Add animals to your herd records

For each animal record a stable identifier: ear tag, tattoo, notch pattern or farm name that your workers recognise aloud. Add species, breed or type (for example Beetal, Teddy, Desi cross), sex, colour pattern and any permanent marks. Note date of birth if known, or an estimated age with the method—teeth, seller claim, or age calculator—so future readers know the confidence level.

Photograph the animal in daylight from the side and face when you create the card, and add a rear view if horns, udder or hindquarters carry identifying detail. Those images help when staff change, when you later list the animal on Goat Mart, and when a buyer questions condition at handover. If the goat arrived through an manual payment proof purchase, paste the order reference, purchase price and delivery cost so expense and income reports stay reconcilable, and revisit the photo set every few months as the animal matures.

When a scale is unavailable, use the heart-girth method and Goat Mart’s weight calculator to estimate live weight. Measure the girth carefully behind the shoulders, keep the tape snug but not crushing, and record both the centimetre reading and the calculated kilograms on the animal card. Repeat monthly for fattening stock so growth trends appear in reports rather than in optimistic recollection.

Age-by-teeth guidance and the age calculator help when papers are missing—common after informal mandi buys where sellers estimate loosely. Check the permanent incisor pairs against a simple chart: two, four, six or a full mouth gives a workable age band even without documents. Pair teeth notes with photos taken from the front so the record is checkable later. Buyers evaluating your future listings will trust a card that shows method, not only a round number. Purpose also belongs here: breeding, milk, fattening, or Qurbani sale—because feed plans, vaccination priority and exit timing all differ by purpose.

Animals entering from outside should land in a quarantine pen with a matching note on the record: arrival date, observed condition, and whether they eat and drink normally. Log the landed cost—animal plus delivery—under expenses so profit calculators later tell the truth. Feed issued during quarantine belongs on the feed tools, not only in a verbal instruction to a yard hand.

If you bought on Goat Mart, order confirmation day is the natural moment to create the card, since the listing already holds photos, price and seller notes you can copy across. If you bought at a mandi, create the record the same evening while the seller’s claims, the negotiated PKR price and any vaccine mentions are still fresh. Farms that wait “until Sunday” permanently lose vaccine claims, exact figures and the seller’s stated kidding or breeding history, leaving gaps that no later conversation can honestly fill.

A static list rots. Use tasks and the calendar to drive weigh-ins, tag checks and pen moves. When an animal dies, is sold, or moves to another farm, update status instead of deleting history; past weight and cost data still inform profit reports. Team members on /dashboard/farm/team should follow the same naming rules so duplicate cards do not appear for one goat.

Review reports monthly: headcount by purpose, purchases versus sales income, and feed cost against growth so underperforming batches are caught before they drain the season’s profit. Before Eid, filter animals marked for Qurbani well in advance and confirm their weight, health and age records are complete enough to list with confidence rather than scrambling in the final week. Clean data shortens listing time on Goat Mart, speeds up buyer chat, and reduces disputes born of vague age or weight claims that surface only after delivery.

When you later list from a seller workspace, herd records become listing fuel: consistent photos, girth history, vaccine dates and breeding notes. Buyers on Goat Mart look for measurement and age marks; your farm cards are how you earn those marks honestly. Keep CNIC-verified selling and farm management on the same account so trust badges and operational data travel together.

Do not overload the first card with every possible field on day one, or the workload will discourage staff from opening the dashboard at all. Identity, source, purpose, weight method and a photo are enough to start; everything else can be added as the animal’s story unfolds. The health and breeding articles in this same help topic show how to deepen the same animal cards over months without ever renumbering the herd or losing the thread back to the original register entry.