Introduction

In UNIFORM it is possible to make different groups and group animals. The grouping can be done manually but can also be done automatically based on criteria. The Animal Grouping can be found by going to [Herd Data] -> [Animal grouping]

Main screen

On the main screen all animals are shown.
In the screen there are a some default columns. These columns are animal number, sex, age, animal type, breed, status, DIM (days in milk), lactation number and current and next group. There are additional columns available by the properties.

At the bottom there are a few buttons:

• Manage groups is for adding or remove groups and  to rename those
• Settings is for setting the defaults and criteria’s
• Regroup is for regrouping the animals based on new criteria’s
• The save button will be available when changes are made
• Group report is to give a summary of the numbers of cows in the groups
• Under properties there are some additional settings to add or remove columns 

Change animals

To change animals from one to another group can be done manually by clicking with the right-mouse button on the animal.
Select the group the animal need to go to and click the save button.
By holding down the [Ctrl] button on your keyboard, it is possible to select multiple animals.

Manage groups

The manage groups button is used for adding and removing groups and to rename those.

Click on [New] to add a group and click on [Edit] to rename or delete a group.

Settings – Default

Under settings there are some default settings for each action.If for example a cow is calved, it is possible to let the animal move to another group by default. This action will go automatically when entering a calving in de Data Entry.

There are four important default settings:

1. New group after calving
2. New group after dry off
3. New group for female calves
4. New group for male calves

Make sure these four are set. In this way all animals are going to the right group after calving or dry off including the new born calves.

The last option ‘No auto regroup above groups’ is a setting that can be used for animals that should not be regrouped automatically. If this for example is set to group 9, all animals in group 10 and higher will not be change group automatically.

Settings – Advanced

At the advanced tab are extra settings. With these settings, it is possible to do a advanced grouping.

There are two ways to regroup animals:

• Based on criteria
• Based on group size

Based on criteria
Based on criteria works with different criteria’s. If an animal match the criteria the animal will get in the group. The screenshot below shows an example.

The criteria that can be used are:

Combine the criteria’s so the right animals will get grouped right.

An example of combining criteria’s are:

• Group 1 = Post calvers
  • Lactation number is equal to or greater than 1
  • Days in milk is equal to or less than 14 days
  • Status is not in dry

• Group 2 = High yielders
  • Lactation number is equal to or greater than 1
  • Days in milk is equal to or greater than 15 days
  • 7 days average milk yield is equal to or greater than 36 liter
  • Status is not in dry

Based on group size

Based on group size works with a maximum number of animals for each group or a percentage of animals for each group. The screenshot below shows an example.

First the sorting need to be set. This can be set on the top, called ‘sorting’. It can be set for the same criteria’s as in the ‘based on criteria’. Then the criteria need to be set for ascending or descending. Next is to set for each group the maximum number of animals.

In the example above the maximum number of animals for group 1 is set to 20 animals and for group 2 and 3 is set to 120 animals. The program is adding the 20 animals with the least days in milk to group 1. After that the next 120 animals will go to group 2 and the next 120 animals will go to group 3, all based on days in milk.

Regroup and save

If changes are made, it is recommanded to check what the effect is for these changes.
With the button [Regroup] this can be checked.

When an animal is getting a group change, it will be marked as yellow in the column ‘New’. If an animal stays in the same group, it will be marked as blue in the column ‘New’. If there is no group in the column ‘New’ it means the animal will not be changed due to the setting ‘No auto regroup above a certain group’. In the screenshot above, animal number 11 will not be regrouped, because it is in group 10 and the ‘No auto regroup above’ is set to group 9.

The changes done by regrouping will not be saved until the save button is clicked. When changes are not correct, or there need to be some adjustments, click on settings to make these adjustments and try to regroup afterwards. This process can be repeated until the settings are satisfied and can be saved.

When exiting the grouping menu and the settings are not saved yet, the program will ask if the group changes need to be saved.

Automatic regrouping

Regrouping automatic can be done by the automate.

In the automate a new task need to be added. This is called ‘Regrouping’. Add this task to the automate. Fill in the time when the regrouping need to be done, for example before or just after midnight and choose the days of the week.

The automatic regrouping option is regrouping the animals based on the settings that are set. If no advanced settings is added, only the default settings are used to regroup.