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Livestock record-keeping software: tracking your herd in LedgerBarn
Whatever you raise — cattle, beefalo, bison, goats, sheep, hogs — the Livestock tab is where every animal, pasture, and health event lives. Here's how to set up your herd records from scratch.
- Open the Livestock tabIn the left rail, go to Livestock. The Herd sub-tab opens by default, next to Map, Pastures, and Feed Lot.
- Add your first pastureSwitch to the Pastures sub-tab and click "+ Add pasture." Give it a Pasture name and its size in acres, then click "Add." Set these up first so every animal has somewhere to be assigned.
- Add an animalBack on Herd, click "+ Add animal." Fill in Tag (its ID number or name tag), Name (optional), Sex, Status (Active/Sold/Deceased/Harvested), Pasture, Species, Breed, Born, whether it's Bred, a Due date if so, Weight (lb), and any Notes. Click Save.
- Species and breed are free textLedgerBarn doesn't lock you into a fixed species list — Species and Breed are open fields, so cattle, beefalo, bison, goats, sheep, and anything else you run all fit the same herd record without a workaround.
- Filter the herdUse the "All species," "All statuses," and "All pastures" dropdowns above the herd list to narrow it down — handy once you're past a handful of head.
- Log a health or life eventOpen an animal's detail panel and use the History section: pick an event kind (note, vet visit, vaccination, medication, deworming, weight, breeding, pregnancy check, calving, or move), add a date and notes, then click "+ Log." This builds a permanent history per animal.
- Track vets you work withUnder the Vet contacts card on the Herd tab, click "+ Add vet" to keep a phone number and clinic name on hand without digging through old texts or a paper folder.
- See what's coming dueThe "Due in the next 90 days" card on Herd surfaces upcoming due dates from your Bred/Due date entries automatically — no separate calendar to maintain.
Good to know- Set Status to "Sold," "Deceased," or "Harvested" instead of deleting an animal — the record and its full history stay searchable.
- If you buy and sell cattle by the lot rather than tracking individual animals long-term, see the "Stocker & backgrounder cattle" guide instead — it's built for that workflow.
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