Favorite App for Cattle Management?

[ranchmom77]

Do any of you use apps on your phone to have your records handy? Our calving area is a few miles from the house and I've always carried around my little "field bible" with me with cow info, but I've ruined several of them. I've got an iphone and I downloaded Livestock Planner.. very useful for keeping track of cows and production records. I think it cost 8 bucks but it's worth it to me! I've got the cow and every calf she ever had all in the same place, along with birthdates, birthweights, due dates (for AI) etc..
I won't give up my faithful calf book, but I've always got my phone with me and it'll be nice to have any info I need, right when I need it. The only thing I don't like about it so far is I can't figure out how to delete a record. I made an oops record and I'll be darned if I can't get rid of it! :???:
I can't tell you how many times last year I needed to look up a cow or calf number, only to realize I didn't have the calf book... but on a side note, I always left it in the calving box so I never lost it! Yay for me! lol :banana:
I've also got a pretty neat body score condition app that crystalyx put out. It's mostly for reference, but nifty anyways and free. My boyfriend has Ilivestockmanager and likes it too, but that one was like 20 bucks. You can record everything in though, for all kinds of animals. Horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, cows.. lots and lots. I think they also make Icattlemanager too that just has cow records, but is cheaper.
Have you found an app that makes your life easier? Share share share!! :banana:

 

[snake67]

We do not have reliable cell coverage in our area.

I use a little book that I carry in my pocket.

I transfer the data to a spreadsheet once a month or so.

Does a fine job - does not rely on fancy electronic gizmos and it can cover more than 400 animals very accurately

I HATE modern technology gizmos - just something else to go wrong

Best to all

Bez

 

[RobGeorge]

iCattleMgr, iCattleMgrPro & iLivestockMgr are all great programs.

 

[jdman1952]

Rob are those just apps for the phone or can you transfer them to the home computer in case you ruin your phone?

 

[Dega Moo]

Someone said there's a lot to go wrong with technology which is true, but there's a lot to go right just as well. If it's you, and just you then calving books are great. Most of those are one per year. To carry information beyond the current calendar year you need another notebook that's been kept up. You can make notes and reference those anytime you need. You can thumb through the pages and find what you want.

Hard to share that information with anyone else though. Sometimes finding it in that calving book or the notebook is a bit of a chore especially when you're in the pasture. It's very nice to be able to see every bit of information about an animal when you need it most, no matter where you are when you need the info.

Before we went "online" with our records, I had a cowboy who would call his wife from a pasture and ask her to look up information about a cow or calf. Worked really well when she was home and not busy, not so well if she was visiting her parents or shopping or getting her hair done - the other 95% of the time. Saved a marriage with that iPhone!

We store a lot of reference material (maps, articles, pictures etc) on our phones. Generally I print and mail a pdf to myself and then save the pdf to iBooks. I can get to that information without an internet or cell connection.

 

[Nesikep]

I have a set of notebooks with everything regarding calving, then I also have a spreadsheet which I have BW's, WW's, etc on them, as well as statistics on each "line" of cows... works well enough for 22 head

 

[Runaway Deere]

I tried all the I cattle apps and after it lost everything 2 or 3 times I went back to the notebook. I have yet to lose a notebook, but have lost lots of data.....

 

[chippie]

I had a free Livestock App that someone here posted about. It was easy to use and I could keep records on the cattle and horses.
Then it updated itself. What a mess. I deleted it and went back to a paper calendar & notebook in the barn, and an Excel spreadsheet on the computer.