Data acquisition

Storing relevant settings for animal data collection

Overview

The following graphic lists the available settings concerning the recording of animal data:

Hint

Move the mouse pointer over a symbol in the graphic below and let it rest for a moment. A tooltip appears, presenting information about the respective setting. If you click on one of the lines, you will be forwarded to a description of the respective setting.

Settings Weight recording

The following graphic lists the available settings concerning the weight recording of animals:

Submenu items settings for weight recording

Assessment of daily weight gain: Threshold values

Hint

The red field shows the “critical too low weight gain” area. The yellow field shows the “suboptimal weight gain” area.

In order to adjust the threshold values for the assessment of the daily weight gain, proceed as follows:

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button.
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Weight recordingand confirm with OK.
The Daily weight gain preference field is automatically selected. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select the desired animal species. Confirm with OK. Alternatively, you can use the pencil icon with the F3 key to jump directly to editing the red and yellow areas.
Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the desired “greater than” or “equal to” g/day increase in the red and yellow area. Use the keys F2/F3 🡄 🡆 or the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to select between the red and yellow areas.
Once you have set the desired “greater than” or “equal to” g/day increase, use the F1 key or confirm with OK to jump back to Daily weight gain.

Birth weight

The device uses the birth weight stored here in the settings as the default value when creating new animals. In order to be able to select the individual birth weight of a newly born animal more quickly, you may need to adjust this default value for your farm. To adjust the value for the Birth weight, proceed as follows:

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button.
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Weight recordingand confirm with OK.
Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the setting field Birth weight and use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to set the desired birth weight. The device now uses the birth weight defined here as the standard when creating new animals. The individual birth weight of a newborn animal can then be selected more quickly.

Warning

The standard birth weight is only an approximate value, which must be individually adjusted when creating a new animal. If you do not want to make this adjustment or if you create animals automatically in the background, no birth weight should be queried or saved when creating a new animal. birth weight should not be queried or saved when creating a new animal. This can be defined in the settings for registration of animals.

Default values birth weights:

Kind of new animal	Lamb	Calf
Default value birth weight:	4 kg	40 kg
Value range :	1,0 bis 99 kg	1,0 bis 99 kg

Average daily weight gain

Explanation

When weighing an animal, the defined daily increase is used for the calculation of the suggested weight value during animal weighing. If the suggested weight value is too low or too high for the majority of the animals to be weighed, you should adjust the defined value downwards or upwards, respectively, to shorten the time needed for adjusting the weight value with the arrow keys.

To set the Average daily weight gain used in the calculation of the approximate weight of an animal proceed as follows.

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button.
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Weight recordingand confirm with OK.
Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the setting field Average daily weight gain. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to set the desired average daily increase g/day. The device now uses the average daily gain defined here as the standard for the expected daily gain of the animals.

Precision of weight recording

Explanation

Depending on the use case and animal species (lamb, calf, cow), there are different requirements regarding the resolution of the weight value to be recorded (accuracy of 10 g, 100 g or 1 kg). To meet these requirements one is required to make use of the Maximum accuracy setting.

The table below shows the precision of weight recording depending on the weight range and the setting stipulated for Maximum accuracy:

Setting Maximum precision:	10 g	100 g	1 kg
Precision in the range of 0 to 9,9 kg:	10 g	100 g	1 kg
Precision in the range of 10 to 49,9 kg:	100 g	100 g	1 kg
Precision in the range of 50 to 99,9 kg:	500 g	500 g	1 kg
Precision for values ≥ 100 kg:	1 kg	1 kg	1 kg

To set the maximum accuracy when recording animal weights with your device, proceed as follows:

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button..
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Weight recordingand confirm with OK.
Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select the setting field Maximum precision. Use the arrow keys ◁ ▷ to set the desired maximum precision. Precision of weight recording on the device now follows the stipulated setting.

Save the settings and return to the top menu `Data acquisition` by pressing the `F1` key Save and return

Mode of animal rating

Explanation

In the simple mode, only the general condition is queried during the animal evaluation (green/yellow/red). In the extended evaluation, 4 evaluation categories are queried: general condition, feed consumption, diarrhea and respiratory disease.

To set the Rating of animals on your device proceed as follows.

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button.
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Rating of animalsand confirm with OK.
Use the ◁ ▷ arrow keys to set the desired rating of animals.

Control period of fresh cows

Explanation

When managing fresh cows, checking the animals daily for several days after birth, including taking their temperature is considered a best practices routine. The duration of this control period varies considerably from farm to farm. For this reason, the length of the control period can be set to a value between 3 and 14 days in the VitalControl settings. The set value for the control period of fresh cows determines the number of columns of the column chart displayed for each animal in the fresh cow list.

To set the length of the Control period for your fresh cows proceed as follows:

In the main screen of your VitalControl device, select the menu item Settings and press the OK button.
A submenu opens in which various settings are displayed. Use the arrow keys △ ▽ to select Data acquisition. Confirm with OK.
Another submenu opens in which you can use the arrow keys △ ▽ to switch between the setting fields for Weight recording, Rating of animals and Control period fresh cows. Select Control period fresh cowsand confirm with OK.
Use the ◁ ▷ arrow keys to set the desired duration of the control period in days post partum.

Save the settings and return to the top menu Settings by pressing the F1 key Save and return .