Herd Books
Cattle Management Software
For Windows XP - 8
Cattle Record Keeping & Age Verification Software
About Herd Books
Herd Books is Cow/Calf cattle management & CCIA compliant age verification software designed for commercial Canadian Beef producers, with 'herds' up to 500 head.
If you have been keeping your cattle records on paper or on a spread sheet, Herd Books can help you make the transition to an easier to use and more productive Cow/Calf record system.
Herd Books is produced on our Alberta ranch. I wrote the basics for it in the early '80s finding that without keeping good livestock records, a cow that has once earned favour could get by at cull time while not weaning decent calves - she's a good cow. Herd Books helps you spot that "good cow" as well as your best cows, and the cow tree points you to their mother, sisters and daughters as well.
The Herd Books program has been updated for 2012, the current version being 3.0.3.0
Free 90 day free trial, with reactivation on purchase. Herd Books is a one time cost, with no yearly fees. Support by email and telephone.
Things You Should Know
- Alberta - The new ALIS (Alberta Livestock Identification Services) has made age verification mandatory as of January 2009 for Alberta producers.
- Alberta - Cattle born after Jan 1st 2009 must be age verified before leaving the farm.Alberta - All livestock producers must obtain a Premises ID# from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Alberta - Requires all feedlots with more than 1000 head (down from 5000) to send a Move In and a Move Out file to the CLIA for cattle bought and sold within 7 days of the tranaction.
- Alberta - Birth records consisting of the animals ID tag, CCIA number and if verified by date of birth, the birth date, or the starting date of calving that the calves were verified with, must be kept for 10 years. (For your protection I would suggest you have a method to link these numbers to the Dam and siblings.
Alberta's Traceability Cattle Identification Regulation is a must read.
CLIA – As of Jan 1st 2010 the old CCIA bar code dangle tags are obsolete and animals leaving the farm must have an RFID tag applied. If you wish to verify the new tag and the dangle tag has been verified with the CLIA then the Cross-reference form should be used instead of the Birth date (age verification) form.
Note--even if the dangle tag was never verified you are not allowed to remove the old tag. When you ruin a tag the CLIA wants you to 'Retire' the tag. You use this form for animals that have died on your place as well.