Ration Edit Window

This window is where you create and edit rations and their formulations. Each ration you deal with may have several versions so that the ration can change over time without having to change the ration name.

Ration Fields

Ration Name. Enter the name of this ration. It must be unique.
Location. If you have multiple locations and would like a ration to only be available to feed at a certain location, use this field to specify that. Leave it set to Any Location to be available to all the locations.
Currently Used. When checked, this ration is considered active and will be available to feed to pens. When unchecked, it will not show up in lists to choose from. If you make a ration non-current while it is still assigned to some pens, these pens will continue to use the ration until changed with a bunk call.
Feeding Passes. When you feed with Fusion, you can do so with several passes. These can be set up on a ration basis. For example, you might have one ration that you want fed 40% on the first pass and 60% on the second pass. You might have another that is fed 100% on the first pass. Each ration can have different percentages and a different number of passes. Use this area to set up how many passes you want this ration to have and the percentage for each. It is possible to set some of the passes to 0% if you want. For example, if you ran three passes overall, but wanted this ration to be fed 40% in the morning and 60% in the afternoon you could set it up with three passes at 40%, 0%, 60%.

Ration Versions

Ration versions are based on a date, so you cannot have more than one ration version per day. Click the + button (or the Copy button with a selected version) to create a new ration version. The Version Date field will default to today's date (or the next available one in the future if already taken).

Unless you are just fixing a mistake, you should always create a new version when the ration formulation changes instead of just changing the current formulation. This way you have a full history of changes over time.

You can delete a version with the - button. If you delete a ration version, it won't affect the history of any loads created with that ration version in the past. However, you should not normally delete ration versions unless you are trying to fix a mistake.

Ration Version Fields

Version Date. Enter the date for this version. If you enter a date in the future, Fusion will not start using that version until the day arrives.
Intended Sex. Enter the sex of animal this ration is to be used with. If you try to make a bunk call for a pen where the sex of the principle lot in the pen doesn't match the intended sex of the ration, a warning will be displayed.
Density. When you define trucks in Fusion, one of the things you set it the capacity of each truck. Knowing this, if Fusion knows the density of each ration it can calculate the maximum load size of each ration for each truck. Therefore, it is important to set the ration density correctly. Of course, the density will likely change for each version of the ration. If you don't know the density off the top of your head (most people don't) you can use the Calculate Density button to have Fusion help you figure it out (see Ration Density Calculator).
Optimum Mixing. Enter the number of cycles that you would like this ration version to be mixed for. A cycle may be equivalent to one second or to one revolution, depending on how your Mix Timer asset is set up. When a load is made a timer window will help the truck driver to mix this ration for an optimum number of cycles. Each load records the target and actual cycles with it. If you leave this at zero, the timer window will not be needed.
Ration Basis. You can enter your ration formulations on either an as fed or dry matter basis. Although there are advantages to using dry matter formulations, ultimately Fusion doesn't care and will perform all the necessary conversions no matter which you use. However, it is very important to set this correctly or your rations will out to lunch!
Note. Add any notes about this ration version that you like.

Ration Formulation

To add an ingredient to the ration formulation, click the + button and choose the ingredient from the resulting list. The ingredient will be added with a default percentage such that the total is 100%. You can then change this percentage and add more ingredients. To remove an ingredient, select it and click the - button.

To change the percentage for an existing ingredient, Double-Click the percentage value. Or, select an ingredient and click the Make 100% button to have Fusion change the value so that the whole ration equals 100%. To change an ingredient, Right-Click the name and choose a different ingredient.

When you make a load with this ration, Fusion will expect the ingredients to be added to the load in the order they are in this window. To change the order, drag and drop a row into a new position.

When you go to move to another ration version or save your changes, Fusion will stop you from continuing if an ingredient's percentage is outside the threshold values defined by the ingredient.

Unlocking a Ration Version

When you view an existing ration version, it will be locked. This is to prevent accidental changes. Remember that most of the time you should be making a new version, not editing an old one. In the rare times when you need to edit an existing ration version, you will need to click the ( lock button ) button to unlock the version first.

Ration Information

Click the button to open other windows which show ration related information. The Ration Info window shows a synopsis of information pertaining to this ration version. The Equivalent Basis window shows the formulation converted to the other basis (as fed to dry matter or visa versa) based on selected parameters.

Getting Here

You can open this window by going to Fusion Feed → Rations → New Ration or by creating or editing a ration from the Ration List window.