Records for R

are Breeds

Oogie M

cGuire

Desert W

eyr, LLC

Paonia,CO

Save B

reeds & B

loodlines

●Loss of Identity●Loss of D

iversity●Loss of Bloodlines●Loss of Breeds

3 Reasons to K

eep Records

●Pedigree●Perform

ance●Politics

Pedigree

●Who is this?

●How

does this animal relate to the breed

as a whole?

●What is the genealogy of this anim

al?●W

hat are the genetics of this animal?

What to K

eep

●Anim

al Registration, N

ame and ID

●Sire R

egistration, Nam

e and ID●

Dam

Registration, N

ame and ID

●Inform

ation on Bloodline Group if Available

●Birth D

ate●

Progeny Records

Perform

ance

●Who to Keep vs C

ull ●Production R

ecords●M

anagement Tasks

●Breed Characteristics

What to K

eep

●E

valuation data●

Birth Type (S

ingle, Twin etc.)

●W

eights at various ages●

Carcass or Loin S

canning Data

●N

otes on Disposition or Injury or?

●D

rugs Given

●Vaccine or D

eworm

ers●

Hoof Trim

s, Shearing &

Other M

anagement Tasks

●R

ank within the Flock or H

erd

Politics

●State or Federal M

andated Program

s–S

laughter Withdraw

al Rules

–Brucellosis Testing/Tagging

–Federal Scrapie P

rogram●Voluntary C

ertification Program

s–G

rass Fed–O

PP

Free

What to K

eep

●D

ate of Drugs given

●D

ate off Slaughter Withdraw

al●

Blood Draw

dates and test results●

Ow

nership History

●O

ff Label Veterinarian Prescriptions●

Verification required for other programs

What A

re your Options?

●Hum

an Mem

ory●Paper R

ecords●C

omputer R

ecords

Mem

ory Pros and C

ons

●Pros

–Easy to use – E

veryone has a brain●C

ons–W

e all forget things–W

e remem

ber things inaccurately–C

onnections can be impossible to see

–What if you die or are incapacitated?

Paper P

ros and Cons

●Pros

–Easy to use

–Low C

ost–P

ortable ●C

ons–H

ard to make correlations

–Time consum

ing to keep current–C

an become illegible over tim

e

Com

puter Pros and C

ons

●Pros

–Easy to m

ake correlations–E

asy to back up–E

asy to share with others

–Can reduce data entry errors

●Cons

–Can be expensive

–Formats can be ephem

eral–R

equires knowledgable user &

infrastructure

Our H

istory

●Kate's C

alendar–H

ard to read–M

issing identification●S

preadsheep–14 years w

orth of data–H

ard to extract useful bits–Tim

e consuming to keep updated

–Starting looking for replacem

ent in 2012

What N

eeded to Change

●B

etter Identification●

Less Time S

pent Collecting D

ata●

Easier to m

ake Correlations

●E

asier to produce Reports

●Less Tim

e Handling S

heep●

Fewer E

rrors –

Problem

s Reading Tags

–D

ata Transcription Issues

Review

of Com

mercial S

W S

olutions

●M

ost are expensive ($750/yr)●

Inexpensive ones didn't keep all the records we w

anted●

Most run on W

indows O

nly●

None are O

pen Source so w

e can't change them●

Most have lim

its on numbers of anim

als●

Most still require transcription from

chute side●

No integration w

ith EID

except in high end ones●

No integration w

ith NS

IP reporting

Ground R

ules for Our S

ystem

●M

ust be Open S

ource●

Readily available hardw

are parts●

Free software developm

ent tools●

Developm

ent environment on M

acintosh, Linux and W

indows system

s●

Use a standard, portable, cross-platform

programm

ing language (Java)

●U

se a standard, portable, cross-platform database

(SQ

Lite)

What D

o We U

se Now

?

LambTracker System

Suite of technologies we use to keep our

flock records

Overall S

ystem D

esign

What is O

ur LambTracker S

etup?

●Shearwell EID

tags in all sheep●H

ome Built EID

Reader

●Handheld C

omputer for Field U

se●SQ

Lite Database

●LambTracker M

obile Software

●LambTracker D

esktop Software

Why U

se EID

?

●R

educe Tag Reading Errors

●Save Labor

●Allow

s easy tracking of individual Sheep●

Performance D

ata linked easily●

Managem

ent Data linked easily

●Sm

aller tags are better for our small sheep

Handheld C

omputer

●Kids Android Tablet N

abi Jr. $99-$139●

Other Android Tablets and Phones

●Future Plans for rugged and sunlight readable Android system

s

Why A

ndroid?

●2 C

hoices for handheld - Apple iO

S and A

ndroidTM

●A

pple requires a license to use bluetooth in your application–

Secret A

greement

–U

ndetermined cost

–U

ndetermined Ts&

Cs

–R

equires special chips in your device i.e. custom hardw

are–

App has to be approved by A

pple●

Android

TM has an open bluetooth environment

–U

ses any standard bluetooth radio–

Open S

ource Developm

ent Environm

ent–

Access is easy

Our C

urrent Softw

are Design

●Lam

bTracker Mobile Version

–Android

TM Application written in Java

●Lam

bTracker Desktop Version

–Application w

ill be written in Java

–Leverage off the handheld system

using Chrom

e brow

ser as the platform.

●D

atabase is using SQLite

–C

omm

on to both Handheld and D

esktop

LambTracker D

atabase Overview

What's R

unning Now

?

●Lam

bTracker Mobile

–All 2014 D

ata collection was using Lam

bTracker–

We have m

odules written for m

ost of our comm

on flock tasks.

●EID

Reader W

orks●

SQLite D

atabase Designed and W

orking●

Desktop Softw

are in process

2 Flocks Using Lam

bTracker

LambTracker M

obile Modules

●Evaluate Sheep–

Scored Evaluations - Scale 1-5–

Real Scores - W

eights and other measurem

ents–

Custom

Evaluations●

Lambing

–Add Lam

bs–

Collect Lam

b ID and Birth D

ata●

Print Labels

LambTracker D

esktop

●C

urrently reports are hand produced using direct SQLite

Queries in Firefox brow

ser with SQ

Lite extensions●

chromeos-apk/archon is w

orking on Macintosh and Linux

systems

●D

evelopment of the desktop activities is proceeding

LambTracker D

evelopment

●R

eady, Fire, Aim!

●Like any Battle Plan, Lam

bTracker rarely survived first contact w

ith the sheep●

Get som

ething running●

Test with live sheep

●D

ebug and refine●

Docum

ent future enhancements

and move on

Chute S

ide Debugging

Tasks We've U

sed LambTracker For

●C

onvert from visual to E

ID tags

●E

valuate sheep in fall●

Breeding

–S

et up mating plans

–S

ort ewes into breeding groups

●A

I Research w

/ US

DA N

AG

P–

Collect C

IDR

Insertion times

–C

ollect Teasing data–

Collect Insem

ination data–

Collect U

ltrasound data

AI R

esearch with U

SD

A NA

GP

Tasks We've U

sed LambTracker For

●Spring Tune-U

p–

Docum

ent Toe Trimm

ing–

Dew

orm and Vaccinate before lam

bing●

Shearing–

Collect notes on sheep health, behavior and fleece

quality–

Print labels for wool bags

Shearing D

ata

Tasks We've U

sed LambTracker For

●Lam

bing–

Docum

ent permanent and tem

porary IDs

–C

ollect Lambease, birth w

eights and lambing notes

●Perform

ance Data

–C

ollect weanling, yearling and adult w

eights–

Collect blood for scrapie genetics and O

PP testing–

Print labels for blood tubes

Find a New

Lamb

Who is the dam

?

Tag the Lamb

Collect Lam

b Data

Data E

ntry Quality C

ontrol

All D

one

Som

e Problem

s

●S

ome Tags broke.

–B

roken tags could still be read. –

Shearw

ell changed the plastic for the US

producers.●

Som

e Tags lost but less than other tags–

2012 before Shearw

ell lost 34 old tags–

2013 before conversion to Shearw

ell lost 13 old tags–

2013 after conversion lost 2 Shearw

ell tags●

Snow

and Rain on H

andheld were problem

s–

Saran W

rap on screen solved the problem

Guardian D

og

LambTracker S

aved Time

●From

1 August 2013 to 15 October 2014

●W

e worked sheep for 212 hours (2 or m

ore people)●

Would have taken us 145 m

ore hours w/o Lam

bTracker●

Example – Sort 10 ram

s from a flock of 62

–Total elapsed tim

e 1 hour including moving ram

s to and from

their pasture.–

Norm

ally that would have taken us 2-2.5 hours due to

tag look-up time

LambTracker C

osts

●Program

ming tim

e - 1 April 2013 to 15 October 2014

●1145 hours program

ming

●O

ver 20,000 lines of code●

2 Nabi Jr. H

andhelds $238●

2 EID R

eaders ~$200●

200 EID tags $218 inclu. shipping from

UK $75.78

●200 Pairs EID

& Visual Tags ~$300 inclu. shipping

Future Plans

●B

etter Integration with N

SIP

and LambP

lan●

Full ownership and m

ovement history

●M

ore refined User Interface

●Im

proved entry of historical data●

Better reporting out

●A

dditional Language versions–

Have had requests for S

panish and French●

More D

evelopers●

Test with A

utomatic S

orting and Weighing E

quipment

Why?

●Our goal is not to m

ake $ on this but to enable the sheep raising com

munity to use

appropriate technology. ●O

ther people can adapt the software to their

own specific needs or for other species.

●Us giving back to the sheep industry.

●We are doing things the “big guys” can't or

won't.

The shoulders we stand on

●D

r. Dan Love

●D

r. Susie H

irsch●

Dr. P

hil Purdy

●D

r. Wayne W

iitanen●

Neil O

ughton●

Eric C

oker●

DX

R●

Ray M

cGuinness

●R

evolution Brew

ing

●G

oogle●

Sun M

icrosystems &

James

Gosling

●S

hearwell U

K●

Allflex U

S●

Priority 1 D

esign●

Linus Torvalds●

Dennis R

itchie & K

en Thompson

●D

onald Cham

berlin & R

aymond

Boyce

For More Inform

ation

●H

ardware D

esign on GitH

ub now–

How

ever, it's missing lots of details, by design.

●P

resentation and information on our w

ebsite–

http://ww

w.lam

btracker.com●

Source C

ode on GitH

ub now–

https://github.com/O

ogieM●

Got Q

uestions? Contact us

–oogiem

@desertw

eyr.com–

kenm@

desertweyr.com

–970-527-3573

Status of E

ID W

orldwide

●A

ustralia–

Varies by State

–Tagging R

equired – Can be E

ID●

New

Zealand–

EID

Mandatory for C

attle & D

eer–

Optional for sheep

●C

anada–

EID

Mandatory for S

heep as of 1 Jan 2013

Status of E

ID W

orldwide

●U

nited Kingdom

–

Double Tagging M

andatory for Sheep as of 1 Jan 2010

–1 Tag m

ust be EID

–C

an use Rum

en Bolus in place of E

ID tag but still need

visual tag–

Slaughter lam

bs under 1 year rules vary by country●

United S

tates–

Tagging Required for S

ale or Transport–

EID

is an option but not required

EID

Devices

●M

icrochips–

Implanted behind ear

–C

an Migrate

–Fragile

Not suitable for use in

sheep, esp. rams.

Processors w

on't recoverC

annot be read w/o

equipment

●R

umen Bolus

–C

an Be Reusable

–Expensive

EID

System

Requirem

ents

●E

ID D

evices–

Microchip

–R

umen B

olus–

Ear Tag

●R

eader Hardw

are–

Handheld

–C

omputer C

onnected–

Chute S

ide

●Software on Desktop C

omputers

–Easy to edit and update

●S

oftware for H

andheld D

evices–

Typically task oriented–

Often subset of total data

Som

e Com

mon E

ID E

ar Tag Com

panies

●Allflex - U

S–

Button & Flag Styles

–$1.75-$2.90

●Y-Tex - U

S–

Flag Style–

$3.39-$4.00

●D

estron Fearing - U

S–B

utton Style

–$2.35

–B

ought Out by

AllFlex

US

– Optional

UK

– Mandatory

●R

itchey - UK

–S

napp Tag–

$1.40 Pairs (V

isual & E

ID)

–C

ompetes w

ith S

hearwell

●S

hearwell - U

K–

SE

T Tag–

$1.09 EID

only–

$1.40 Pairs (V

isual & E

ID)

EID

Reader H

ardware

●P

ocket or Portable D

evices–

Som

e are attached to computer

–P

rices range from $400-$1500 or m

ore●

Panel R

eaders–

Used in racew

ays, chutes and on scales

–C

an talk to sort gates–

Prices start at $3900 and go up

–U

sually integrated with com

puter

When does E

ID m

ake sense?

●M

aking Genetic C

hanges to your flock●

Scrapie Free E

xport Flocks●

NS

IP or other P

erformance R

ecording (LambP

lan, EB

LEX

, Signet etc.)

–W

eights–

Ultrasound S

cans (Fat Depth, Loin E

ye and Pregnancy)

●D

isease Status and R

ecording–

Brucellosis

–O

PP

●B

reeding and Lambing D

ata Recording

–R

ecording labor and number of assists (P

ulling lambs)

●R

educe Labor costs

What E

ID Isn't

●C

annot track sheep at distance–

You must be w

ithin touching distance to read an EID

device

–C

ell phone collars exist prices range from $100-300 each

–S

atellite collars start at $500 each–

GP

S requires good view

of the sky●

Com

munications Infrastructure does not exist on range

●This w

ould sure be nice but not today. Give it another 15

years or so and perhaps.

Why W

e Personally N

eed EID

●W

e are an Export Q

ualified Scrapie Free flock

●W

e record NS

IP data

●W

e need detailed lambing records for our w

ork with the U

SD

A on artificial insem

ination●

We are an O

PP

Free flock and test regularly●

We are w

orking to improve our flock perform

ance on a number of

managem

ent characteristics●

Before E

ID w

e invariably misread 1-2 tags every tim

e we w

orked the sheep–

This means w

e had to put all the sheep back through to verify tag numbers

costing us time and labor.

–It's just us, w

e are unlikely to get more accurate as w

e get older!●

We are not a hobby flock but are sm

all and can be an experimental flock

What is O

pen Source?

●Free as in Freedom

not Free as in Beer●

Free to use●

Free to modify

●Leverage m

any developers worldw

ide●

Often quicker to handle new

technology●

Developers “Stand on the shoulders of giants”

The 4 Open S

ource Freedoms

●The freedom

to run the program for any purpose.

●The freedom

to study how the program

works and

change it so it does your computing as you w

ish.●

The freedom to redistribute copies.

●The freedom

to distribute copies of your modified

versions to others.

Why N

ot Window

s?

●W

e don't have any Window

s Developm

ent capability.●

Since the Desktop version w

ill be written in Java and run

under the Chrom

e browser “it should just w

ork”.●

Open Source m

eans anyone is welcom

e to fix any problem

s that occur or develop in a direction that we

don't want to.

Why N

ot Window

s Handhelds?

●W

indows Phones and Tablets is a sm

all population●

Tablets are very expensive i.e. Microsoft Surface

●Phones have lim

ited capability and failing in marketplace

●This m

ay change in future but not for now

LambTracker D

atabase

●Proper R

elational Database design

●Ease of set-up and editing

●R

obust design to allow for expansion of types of records

kept

LambTracker S

coreboard

●If w

e used LambTracker and it had bugs or didn't w

ork sheep got a point.

●If w

e used LambTracker and it w

orked properly with no

database issues LambTracker got a point.

●As of m

iddle of October

●Lam

bTracker 1662●

Sheep 584

Expand S

W for our Flock

●This is one Flock's Perspective, YM

MV

●This is a w

ork in progress. We have no idea how

long it w

ill take. We are focusing on these 4 pieces:

●D

esktop Software R

unning●

Manage Alerts for sorting and other activities

●Autom

atic input and output of NSIP data

●O

fficial Scrapie Flock Inspection Reports