Pens

you can add, edit, and manage pens in both the mobile app and feedcomp on on the web core tasks, such as creating pens, viewing pen details, and managing animals, are available in both interfaces, so you have the flexibility to manage feedings in , the pens page provides a full management view, including feeding related settings, pen capacity, and historical data is typically used during initial setup and configuration in the mobile app, the pens page is designed for quick, on‑the‑go access pens are displayed as cards, allowing you to quickly view pen status and work with animals while on the farm pen building blocks pens in are made up of several key components that affect how animals are grouped, fed, and tracked understanding these pieces makes it easier to set up pens correctly and know where to manage them pen name and number each pen has a unique name and number that identifies it throughout pen numbers must be unique within the dairy and are commonly used during feeding and reporting pen types pen types describe the purpose of a pen, such as milk, dry, heifer, calf, or hospital pen types are color‑coded to make it easier to identify pens at a glance a pen can have more than one type assigned animal count/capacity displays the ratio of assigned animals to a pen's maximum capacity (e g , 35/50) for feeding targets and reporting highlights these values visually to indicate whether a pen is under filled, at capacity, or over capacity feeding count (pulse)/pen count (mobile app) the feeding count/pen count represents the number of animals being fed in the pen this value can be synced with the animal count or managed separately, depending on how the pen is configured feeding count is primarily managed on pulse target dry matter per head (dm/hd) target dm/hd defines how much dry matter each animal in the pen is expected to receive per day this value is used when planning feedings and calculating feed targets if feedings are split, automatically maintains the proportion enable for feeding activate this setting to include a pen in feeding workflows and the mobile app pens must be enabled before they can be selected for feedings zone a functional grouping used to organize pens by location or purpose zones streamline list filtering and provide high level animal counts and capacity data for specific areas of the facility add a pen you can add a new pen from either the mobile app or on the web ( ) the same basic information is required in both, but some feeding‑related settings are available only on the web when adding a new pen, refer to pen building blocks docid\ dmdhetu cjflmz3h3oe1 for information about the various entry fields go to pens, then select add new pen ( ) or create pen (mobile) a screen opens for you to enter the details for the new pen enter a pen name and pen number both values must be unique within the dairy select a pen type pen types help identify the role of the pen during feeding and reporting tip if creating the pen in , you can select more than one pen type for only, enter the following information for the pen capacity the maximum number of animals a pen can hold pen zone functional groupings of pens used to organize the dairy by location or purpose enter a feeding count (pulse)/pen count (mobile) for the pen enter a target dm/hd for the pen this value defines how much dry matter each animal in the pen is expected to receive per day tip feedcomp links your pen’s target dm/hd to its feeding amounts to ensure your nutritional goals and feeding schedules always stay in sync when you update a target, feedcomp automatically recalculates all associated feedings see target dm and feeding amounts docid\ oq0otvokvo520fsfaclly to learn more to link the pen's feeding count to its animal count, select sync feeding & animal count (optional) when syncing feeding is on automatically updates the feeding count whenever animals are added to or removed from the pen in this case, the feeding count cannot be edited manually when syncing feeding is off the feeding count is not automatically updated when animals change this allows you to manually set a feeding count that is different from the animal count for only, select the enable for feeding toggle to make the pen available in the feedings list and the mobile app (optional) when enable for feeding is on the pen becomes active and selectable in the feedings list and the mobile app for creating or adjusting feedings when enable for feeding is off the pen is excluded from active feeding lists and new selections, though all existing historical data for that pen is safely retained save the pen the pen is now available for use and can be edited later if changes are needed manage pens on pulse and the mobile app on the web ( ) and in the mobile app, you can quickly search, view, and update pens search, sort, and filter the pens list options to search, sort, and filter pens are available at the top of the page web only select filters at the top left of the page to open the filters side panel use the search field to find pens by name active pens are shown by default use filter options to include inactive pens in the list add a new pen to create a new pen, select add new pen (web) or create pen (mobile) see add or edit a pen docid\ dmdhetu cjflmz3h3oe1 to learn more view pen cards pen cards provide a visual overview of key details like name, number, and capacity while both platforms show these basics, the pulse web interface displays additional pen data on each card note pens can also be view in a list on pulse view or edit pen details open a pen to review information or make changes web only select details in the top right corner of the pen card or, if viewing pens in list format, select the pen number mobile only select a pen card, then choose edit pen see pen building blocks docid\ dmdhetu cjflmz3h3oe1 to learn more about the fields shown when viewing pen details activate or deactivate pens you can activate or deactivate a pen at any time deactivating a pen removes it from feeding workflows and prevents it from being selected for new feedings existing pen data and history are retained, but inactive pens are not available for feeding until they are reactivated open the pens page (optional) to view inactive pens, select filters in the top left and enable show inactive select the pen to update in table view , select the pen number in cards view , select details on the pen card select the options button in the top right, then choose edit pen the pen details side panel opens use the active pen toggle to update the pen status turn off the toggle to deactivate the pen turn on the toggle to reactivate the pen select save open the pens screen (optional) to view inactive pens, tap disabled at the top of the screen tap the pen you want to update the pen details screen opens tap edit pen update the pen status to deactivate (disable) a pen, tap the deactivate icon at the top of the screen to reactivate a disabled pen, select enable for feeding save your changes auto sync pens automatic pen updates when pens are enabled for auto‑updates from dairycomp, automatically adjusts the feeding counts , total dm and total af values based on the pen changes recorded in dairycomp if synchronization is turned off for specific pens, the feeding count is managed solely within understanding how pen synchronization timing and automatic batch recalculations work helps ensure accurate counts, correct feeding amounts, and proper interpretation of feed targets as pen populations change important considerations itself doesn’t move animals; it reacts to pen moves recorded in dairycomp and updates the feeding count and feed targets accordingly sync feeding and animal counts is a setting linked to each individual pen, not all pens when pen sync feeding and animal counts is toggled on, feeding count is read‑only and follows the dairycomp pen counts pens with zero animals will not show in it's best practice to keep dairycomp updated to help maintain proper communication with important allow at least 15 minutes for pen changes made in dairycomp to show in types of entries that trigger pen changes move event entries pen number changes test day pen changes (pen=tpen) event entries linked to automatic pen changes built inside the event or in protocols entries coming from mobile devices, such as pcc (pocket cowcard) and dc on mobile pcc entries must be delivered to dairycomp on the same day important pen changes made in pulse do not change pen counts directly in as the pen changes must be sent to dairycomp first, then dairycomp sends the changes back to pulse turning on sync feeding and animal counts (pulse) on under feedcomp , select pens select a pen to edit click on the ellipse (3 dots) select edit pen toggle on sync feeding & animal counts select save turning on sync feeding and animal counts (mobile app) under adjustments , select pens tap the applicable pen card tap edit pen select sync feeding & animal counts select save turning off sync feeding and animal counts you should turn off automatic pen updates under the following conditions internet is down and is not refreshing from dairycomp when moving cows later in the day after feeding has finished manually adjust the pen counts to reflect future pen changes pens receiving incoming animals, such as heifers returning from a raiser and the pen changes have not been entered into dairycomp groups of cows got mixed up if using a "dummy" pen that has a zero count in dairycomp to turn off automatic pen updates toggle off sync feeding & animal counts enter the new pen count select save important adjust the pen count manually until "sync feeding & animal counts" is turned back on identify auto update pens in , view the pens list and check for the refresh icon next to the feeding count in this example pens 0 3 are not refreshing automatically (refresh icon is grey with a line through it) pens 4 and 5 are refreshing automatically (refresh icon is blue and no line through it) in the mobile app, select edit a pen and check the refresh icon next to pen count zones zones are functional groupings used to organize pens by location or purpose within a dairy each zone has a unique name, number, and type, and provides aggregated data such as total animal count and number of assigned pens zones help streamline pen filtering on the pens page and give a high level view of capacity across different areas of the facility zones are typically configured by the vas support group during initial setup and are not something most users need to create or manage directly if you need to add or modify zones, contact vas support docid 2vb0p0amcgjzosjxt87yn