Tracking Pen Density

December 3, 2013 by Cannon Smith

Starting with Fusion 2.6, density information is calculated by Fusion based on the size of each pen and the number of animals in the pen each day. This information is calculated so that for any particular day you can see the density of a pen and the average density of a lot. You can also see the average density over the life of a lot. Bunk density is also calculated.

In order for Fusion to do this, it must know the size of each pen. Until Fusion 2.6, there was no place to enter pen sizes. While you can now you can use the Pen edit window to enter this for each pen, there is a utility which will make it easier for current customers to get started using this feature. It is called the Pen Dimension Conversion Utility and can be found under Fusion Admin→Utilities.

The utility lists all your pens and has a place to enter the length, width, and bunk length for each one. When you are finished entering this information, Fusion will save it to the individual pens and then calculate all historical density information from the day you started using Fusion. Because this can take some time so we recommend doing it at the end of the day so it can run into the night. Please note that this utility is meant to be used only once to help you get started. In the future you should make changes with the Pen edit window directly when needed.

We hope the new density information will prove useful as you analyze the data associated with your feedlot.