Managing livestock at a distant cattle post: keeping records when you’re not there

Across much of Africa, livestock are kept far from where their owners live and work. A herder or family member looks after them at a cattle post or on communal land, and the owner visits when they can. This works well when everyone knows what is expected. It goes wrong when nobody knows what was done, or when.

Agree what gets recorded

Before anything else, agree with the person looking after your animals on the few things that must always be recorded:

• Every vaccination, treatment, dipping or deworming, with the product and date.
• Every birth, death, loss or sale.
• Any animal that is sick, injured or missing.
• A headcount at an agreed interval, such as every week.

Keep the list short. A herder will keep a short list every time; a long one gets skipped.

Make recording easy for the herder

A herder who has to phone you, wait, and then hope you write it down will soon stop. Give them a way to record directly: a notebook kept at the post, or a shared app on their phone where they can enter records themselves. Make sure the method works where there is no signal.

Check in regularly

A regular headcount and a note on condition (good, fair, poor) tells you a lot. If the count drops or condition worsens, you can ask questions early, before a small problem becomes a large one.

Decide who can do what

Your herder needs to add records. They probably don’t need to sell animals, change farm details or remove other people. Agree on this and, if you use an app, set their access to match.

Keep one history, not several

The owner’s notes, the herder’s notebook and the vet’s invoices should end up in one place. If you use paper, copy the herder’s entries into your own book at every visit. If you use an app that both of you can use, there is nothing to copy.

Doing it in VaxiTrace

VaxiTrace lets you keep each farm or cattle post separate, invite your herder to record treatments, and receive herd check-ins with a headcount and condition. You are emailed if a check-in reports missing animals. VaxiTrace does not track animals by GPS: check-ins come from the people looking after them. See remote herd features.

This guide is about keeping records. It is not veterinary advice. For treatments, doses and vaccination schedules, follow your vet and the product label, and check your country’s official requirements.