Beyond Daily Workflows

In Chapter 7, you learned the essential daily workflows. Recording observations, managing tasks, documenting movements, and logging treatments. Now we go deeper into the comprehensive animal management features that build on these daily activities.

This chapter explores how Kora organises and presents animal information, supports both individual and group management approaches, and tracks animals throughout their entire lifecycle.

What This Chapter Covers

Individual Animal Records (8.1) - Complete animal profiles with health history, weight tracking, reproductive records, identification management, and status badges providing quick access to key features

Animal Mobs (Group Management) (8.2) - Managing groups of animals collectively, tracking population demographics, mob-level observations and treatments, and splitting/merging operations

Animal Lifecycle Management (8.3) - From acquisition through daily management to exit, covering how animals enter your care, the management phases they move through, and how their records evolve over time

Individual Animals vs. Animal Mobs

Kora's dual-tier animal management system (introduced in Chapter 2.2) allows you to choose the appropriate tracking level for each situation:

Individual animals receive complete profiles with detailed lifetime histories. Use for breeding stock, high-value animals, endangered species, clinical patients, zoo collections, or any situation requiring comprehensive individual tracking.

Animal mobs (groups) you manage collectively with population-level data. Use for commercial livestock, large flocks, wild herds, or any situation where individual tracking is impractical but group-level management is essential.

You can use both approaches simultaneously. Breeding stock as individuals, market animals as mobs. And even move animals between individual and group management as circumstances change.

The Animal Profile Page

When you view an individual animal in Kora, you see a comprehensive profile page containing:

Core Information - Name/ID, species, sex, age, breed, location, acquisition details

Smart Badges - Interactive badges providing quick access to specific features:

• Quarantine badge - Manage quarantine status, add health checks, view quarantine progress
• Weight badge - View weight history, add new weight records, see growth trends
• Breeding badge - Track reproductive status, pregnancy progress, breeding records
• Tasks badge - See assigned tasks, complete tasks, add new animal-specific tasks
• QR Code badge - Generate QR codes for field identification
• CITES badge - Manage endangered species compliance
• Follow-up badge - Veterinary follow-up flags

Health History - Chronological timeline of observations, treatments, health assessments

Weight Tracking - Growth charts, weight trends, current condition

Reproductive Records - Breeding history, pregnancy tracking, offspring details

Movement History - Complete geographic journey, contact tracing data

Identification Methods - Tags, microchips, RFID, visual markings

Traceability Chain - Immutable lifetime audit trail

The profile page brings all animal information into one place while smart badges provide shortcuts to specific management features without leaving the page.

Why Comprehensive Animal Records Matter

Informed decision-making: Complete historical data supports better care decisions. Is this treatment working? Has weight been stable? What is the breeding success rate?

Continuity of care: When multiple team members work with the same animals, complete records ensure everyone has the information they need.

Veterinary support: Veterinarians reviewing animals can see complete medical history, supporting accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.

Regulatory compliance: Detailed records demonstrate responsible animal care and meet regulatory requirements for traceability, welfare, and biosecurity.

Long-term trends: Patterns emerge over time. Seasonal health issues, growth curves, breeding performance. Single observations cannot reveal these patterns.

Accountability: Complete records show who did what and when, creating transparency and professional accountability.

Group Management for Scale

While individual records are powerful, they are not always practical. Managing 500 commercial cattle individually creates administrative burden without proportional benefit. This is where mob management excels.

Animal mobs track:

• Population count and demographics (males/females, juveniles/adults)
• Group-level health observations
• Collective treatments and vaccinations
• Population changes (births, deaths, purchases, sales)
• Average weights and weight ranges
• Movement history for the group

Mob management provides appropriate oversight for large populations while keeping administrative effort reasonable.

The Animal Lifecycle

Animals move through distinct lifecycle phases in Kora:

Acquisition - Animal enters your care (birth, purchase, rescue, transfer, capture)

Active Management - Daily care, health monitoring, breeding, production

Status Changes - Quarantine, pregnancy, special care, follow-up required

Exit - Animal leaves your care (sale, death, transfer, release)

Each phase has different management needs and record-keeping requirements. Kora adapts to support animals through every stage.

Desktop vs. Mobile for Animal Management

Desktop excels at:

• Reviewing complete animal profiles
• Analysing weight trends and health history
• Managing reproductive records with extensive detail
• Creating comprehensive treatment plans
• Generating reports and certificates
• Batch operations (updating multiple animals)

Mobile works well for:

• Quick profile lookups in the field
• Adding weight measurements during handling
• Recording observations while working
• Scanning QR codes for instant animal identification
• Checking quarantine status on the go
• Completing assigned tasks

Both platforms access the same animal data. Choose based on the work you are doing.

Learning Approach for This Chapter

Each section builds on Chapter 7's daily workflows:

Section 8.1 shows how daily observations, treatments, and measurements combine to create rich individual animal profiles with smart badges providing feature shortcuts.

Section 8.2 explains when and how to manage groups collectively, offering an alternative to individual tracking for large populations.

Section 8.3 walks through the complete animal lifecycle from acquisition to exit, showing how animal records evolve over time.

Work through sections relevant to your management approach. If you primarily track individuals (zoo, conservation, breeding programme), focus on 8.1 and 8.3. If you manage large groups (commercial livestock, wildlife populations), emphasise 8.2.

Cross-Context Examples

Dairy Farm: Breeding cows tracked individually (8.1) with complete reproductive records, replacement heifers as individual records, calves destined for market as mob (8.2)

Zoo: All animals individual records (8.1) with extensive breeding programme tracking, health history, and CITES compliance

Wildlife Reserve: High-value individuals tracked individually (8.1). Rhinos, elephants with GPS collar data. General populations managed as mobs (8.2) with periodic census updates.

Conservation Project: Endangered species all individual (8.1) with detailed pedigrees and genetic tracking, supporting animals as mobs (8.2) for efficiency

Veterinary Clinic: All patients individual records (8.1) with complete medical history, even if brief temporary stays

Commercial Livestock: Small breeding herd individual (8.1), large production groups as mobs (8.2), individuals promoted from mob when needed (e.g., health concern requires detailed tracking)

Your context determines which approach makes sense. Kora supports both flexibly.