Follow a breeding cycle

What this workflow achieves

Use this workflow to follow one female from reproductive-programme membership through readiness, heat, service, pregnancy diagnosis and calving, including fertility examination, failed service and pregnancy-loss branches.

Farmlync separates three kinds of information:

• observed facts such as a heat, service, exam or pregnancy result;
• calculated work state such as Breed now, Awaiting PD or Repeat heat due; and
• plans such as fertility-protocol steps and expected calving dates.

Record only an event that actually happened. A prediction, checklist completion or forecast is not clinical evidence.

1. Confirm Breeding Program membership

Open Livestock → Breeding → Breeding program. This is the reproductive-management roster, not a list of animals ready to serve.

Farmlync normally enrols an active female registered beyond Calf stage, and can enrol a heifer automatically when she transitions from Calf. Owners and Managers can also add an eligible active female manually. Males, Do-not-breed animals and animals already enrolled are rejected.

Programme control	How to use it
Select animals…	Search by identity, select across 50-row pages and choose Enrol selected. Select this page selects only that page.
Enrol all eligible	Adds every eligible active female on the farm in one transaction. Use it only for a deliberate whole-herd catch-up.
Release hold	Clears a saved breeding hold after checking its reason and evidence. This does not itself prove readiness.
Remove	Removes the female from reproductive management and clears an active hold. It does not delete her breeding history.
Recently removed → Re-enrol	Re-enrols a still-eligible active female.

Programme membership alone does not bypass age, weight, voluntary waiting period, withdrawal, Do Not Breed, pregnancy, service-outcome or hold rules.

2. Read the Worklist before recording

Open Livestock → Breeding → Worklist. Its statuses are derived from the animal and event history; do not edit them directly.

Typical states include Not ready, In VWP, Breed now, Repeat heat due, Awaiting PD and Ready to scan. Open the animal and inspect the evidence behind an unexpected status. A missing or stale source fact should be corrected in its owning event, not forced by creating a false heat or service.

Use Overview for headline counts, Worklist for due action, Cycle grid for timing, Services for saved inseminations/matings, Fertility protocols for planned steps and Analytics/Seasonal report for measured outcomes.

3. Record a fertility examination when clinical review is needed

Choose Exam from Worklist, Today’s Work/Execution Mode, or Animal → Breeding → Exams → Record exam. The animal must be an active female. A Post-natal check additionally needs a calving on or before the exam date.

Field	Valid value
Exam type *	Post-natal check or Fertility exam.
Exam date *	Actual farm-local date; future dates are rejected.
Left / Right ovary	Not examined, Normal, Corpus luteum, Follicular cyst, Luteal cyst or Inactive.
Uterine condition	Normal, Involuting, Endometritis, Metritis, Pyometra or Other.
Uterine grade	Optional Grade 0–3.
Diagnosis	Normal/cycling, Anoestrus, Sub-oestrus, Cystic ovaries, Uterine infection or Other.
Treatment given	Optional exam narrative, effective maximum 200 characters. It does not deduct stock or create withdrawal.
Follow-up *	No follow-up, Re-examine in 7 days, Re-examine in 14 days or Examination complete.
Vet name	Optional, up to 200 characters.
Notes	Optional, up to 1,000 characters.

Save and verify the exam under the animal’s Breeding history. If medicine was administered, also record the actual Health treatment with product, stock and withdrawal evidence. A 7/14-day choice creates the next fertility-exam work item; it does not perform that future exam.

4. Record an observed heat

Use Record Heat for one animal. She should be active, female, beyond Calf, in the Breeding Program, not DNB and not on an active breeding hold.

Control	What to enter
Animal *	Search and select the observed animal. A fixed action can supply it.
Detection Date & Time *	Actual farm-local observation time; no more than five minutes in the future.
Detection Method *	Visual, Activity Monitor, Tail Paint or Pedometer Alert. A device method does not connect a device.
Observed By	Optional Farmer, Staff or System role.
Intensity *	Weak, Moderate or Strong.
Signs Observed	Mounting, Mucus Discharge, Restlessness, Bellowing, Reduced Appetite and Standing Heat. Standing Heat sets intensity to Strong.
Next action	None, Schedule AI or Bull Service when offered. It controls hand-off, not the heat record.
Notes	Optional, up to 1,000 characters.

Farmlync rejects a second heat on the same farm-local day. A pregnant-animal warning is a prompt to verify evidence; recording heat does not itself clear pregnancy.

The displayed AI timing hints are Strong 6–12 hours, Moderate 12–18 hours and Weak 18–24 hours after detection. They are planning hints, not proof that service occurred.

• Record Heat saves only the observation.
• Record & Schedule AI saves the heat, then opens an AI service draft.
• Record & Add Service saves the heat, then opens a natural-service draft.

Cancelling the next form leaves the saved heat and creates no service.

Batch Heat

Use Batch Heat for up to 500 animals sharing time, observer, method, intensity, signs and notes. Select each included row. Per-animal overrides can replace intensity, signs or notes; a blank override inherits the shared value.

Review recent-heat warnings and the actual animals. The batch currently omits some single-record safety checks, including future time, Calf stage and active hold, so never use a seeded selection to bypass those rules. Read success and failure lists and retry only failed animals.

5. Record the completed service

Open Record Service only after insemination, natural mating or embryo transfer occurred.

Common fields

Field	What to enter
Animal *	Actual serviced female.
Service Date & Time *	Completed farm-local service time. Future service is rejected.
Service Type	Artificial Insemination, Natural Service or Embryo Transfer. Changing it clears sire/straw details.
Link Heat Detection	Optional correct recent heat for this animal.
Service Number	Leave blank; the current save assigns the next sequence automatically even if a number is typed.
Performed by	Farmer, AI technician or Veterinarian plus actual name; keep within 100 characters.
Notes	Optional, up to 1,000 characters.

Artificial insemination

Field	Meaning
Select Semen Straw	Choose an available tracked batch. The picker shows up to 50 rows with sire, breed, batch, quantity and expiry.
Manual entry	Records actual sire/batch without deducting a Farmlync straw. It does not receive stock.
Semen Type	Conventional, Sexed female, Sexed male or Beef.
Sire Name *	Required through selected stock, linked sire or manual name; up to 200 characters.
Sire Breed	Optional, up to 100 characters.
Straw Batch # *	Required for AI, up to 100 characters. A tracked selection locks it.

A successful tracked service deducts one straw. An exhausted or expired batch can be rejected even if it appeared earlier. Do not substitute a false batch; resolve the stock/evidence problem.

Natural service and embryo transfer

Select an active herd bull or enter external Bull Name up to 200 characters and optional breed up to 100. Current selection/save does not calculate bull breeding age, so verify it independently. Pedigree can show an inbreeding advisory but missing ancestry is not proof of no risk.

Embryo Transfer currently uses this non-AI sire/bull section and has no donor, embryo-batch, embryo-stock or grade workflow. Retain that evidence outside this form where required.

Readiness and override

The form checks readiness for the selected date. Heifer age/weight or missing evidence can offer an Authorised override reason of 10–500 characters. Programme exclusion, active hold, DNB and other blocking conditions cannot be bypassed by text.

Record the true service time even when it falls outside a heat timing hint. Saving changes pregnancy state to Bred, consumes selected semen stock, schedules PD work and can complete a matching fertility-protocol insemination step.

Verify the service under Breeding → Services, the straw balance and the next PD action. One service per animal per farm-local day is allowed; a pending outcome or confirmed pregnancy can block another service.

6. Wait for and record pregnancy diagnosis

Use PD Check only after the examination occurred.

Field	Valid value
Animal *	Active breeding female beyond Calf stage.
Check Date *	Actual farm-local examination date. The current command does not reject future dates, so verify it manually.
Method *	Rectal, Ultrasound, Blood Test or Milk Progesterone.
Result *	Positive, Negative or Inconclusive; defaults to Inconclusive.
Expected Calving Date	Required for Positive. Derived from linked service and gestation setting, or deliberately entered. Verify it is after the exam.
Number in Utero	Optional Positive-only whole number 1–4.
Link to Breeding Service	Select the service examined; review date, type and attempt number.
PD Notes	Optional, up to 1,000 characters.

With a linked service, a check before day 28 allows only Inconclusive. It cannot precede the service. The single form refuses another PD on the same farm day.

Result effects

Result	Effect
Positive	Sets Confirmed pregnancy, marks linked service Conceived and feeds expected-calving planning. Before day 60 it schedules reconfirmation for day 60.
Negative with no earlier Positive	Sets Open, marks linked service Failed and schedules a heat watch 14 days later.
Negative after Positive	Sets Open and marks pregnancy loss against the linked service. Record a separate abortion/loss when its detailed evidence is required.
Inconclusive	Keeps uncertainty and schedules rescan for the later of check +10 days and service +28 days.

Batch PD

Batch PD shares Check Date and Method; each row receives its own result and optional note. It loads service/previous-PD context first. Less than 28 days blocks Positive/Negative. No service blocks Positive in the current table. A previous Positive followed by Negative displays a loss warning.

Batch PD has no expected-calving-date or foetus-count controls; Positive dates derive from linked service. Use single PD when those values need review. Only selected valid rows with a result are sent. Read successes/failures and retry only failures.

The current batch path omits some single-record checks, including same-day duplicate, beyond-Calf and hold validation, and it does not complete a fertility-protocol PD step. Do not use it to bypass those rules; review the programme afterward.

7. Record a confirmed pregnancy loss

Use Animal → Record an event → Record loss when a previously confirmed pregnancy was lost. For a first negative examination, use PD instead.

Field	What to enter
Abortion date *	Actual non-future farm-local date.
Gestation (days)	Optional whole number 0–300. Leave blank if unknown.
Suspected cause	Not specified, Infectious, Nutritional, Trauma/injury, Twinning, Congenital/genetic, Unknown or Other. It is not a diagnosis.
Notes	Optional evidence/context, up to 1,000 characters.

The animal must still be active, female, enrolled and currently Confirmed pregnant. Saving creates the loss event, sets Open, marks the latest eligible conceived service Early loss, cancels superseded breeding work and creates a heat watch. Verify all of those outcomes. Only one loss per farm-local day is allowed, and the current portal has no edit/delete action for it.

8. Use fertility protocols as checklists, not event records

Fertility protocols are timed templates. A template supports 1–30 steps, each with day offset 0–365 and action Injection, Device insert/remove, Inseminate, Heat watch or Pregnancy check. Optional Product is text only; it does not consume inventory.

Apply an active template to up to 500 eligible animals with one day-0 start date. Read applied/skipped results. Existing animal programmes retain a snapshot if the template later changes.

• Done marks the checklist step complete at current time; it does not create treatment, stock, withdrawal, service or PD evidence.
• Skip marks it skipped; the current page captures no reason.
• A programme is Completed when all steps are Done or Skipped, not when conception succeeds.
• Recording a service or single PD can complete a nearby matching step within the supported two-day window.

Always record the actual medicine, service or diagnosis in its owning form as well.

9. Complete the cycle with calving

An expected-calving date is a forecast. When birth occurs, use Lifecycle Record Calving. That atomic workflow records the dam’s event, creates live calf identities, retains stillbirth counts, starts the next lactation and returns pregnancy to Open.

Do not register the same live calves separately afterward. Verify the dam, calves, parentage, lactation and registry work.

10. Verify the cycle after every step

1. Open the animal’s Breeding history and confirm event type, date and linked service.
2. Open Services to verify sequence, sire, semen batch and outcome.
3. Check Worklist for the next appropriate status/action.
4. Check semen stock after tracked AI.
5. Check fertility-protocol steps separately from event history.
6. Use Cycle grid for timing and Analytics/Seasonal report for recorded outcomes, not as replacements for source evidence.
7. Correct or delete through the owning record’s permitted action; never create a false heat, service or PD to force a desired state.

Completion checklist

• Animal is correctly enrolled and not blocked by DNB/hold/withdrawal.
• Heat observation records actual signs and time.
• Service records the actual method, sire/straw, performer and time.
• Tracked semen quantity was verified after AI.
• PD uses the actual method, date, result and correct service context.
• Loss evidence uses PD or Record loss according to what occurred.
• Protocol checklist and clinical/business event records are both complete where needed.
• Worklist’s next state follows the saved evidence.
• Actual calving is recorded through Lifecycle, not inferred from a forecast.

For control-level references, see Record heat, Record service, Pregnancy diagnosis, Fertility exam, Pregnancy loss, Breeding program and Fertility protocols.