Smartphone applications can help youth manage animal science projects
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EmailSmartphone applications create a technically savvy way for 4-H youth to keep records and improve management practices.
In an era where information is accessible in an instant through our smartphones, access to applications can help youth keep more accurate records of their animal science projects while also having tools at their disposal to help make critical production calculations.
Two free applications that are notable are the “Poultry Calculator” and My Pet Diary.
Poultry Calculator is an application from the Willmar Poultry Company and Ag Forte that can help people compute the rate of gain, age/date projector and coefficient of variation in their poultry flocks. This application can be used by young poultry producers to help them determine if their meat birds are gaining weight appropriately. This rate of gain calculator will also help youth determine the amount of days it will take for their birds to achieve their established weight goal. The user inputs the desired daily gain, the days of age of their birds and the desired end weight of the birds. The calculator will then output the number of days it will take for a flock with the identified daily gain to reach the desired ending weight.
My Pet Diary allows youth with companion animals to track the health and wellness of their pet with its many features. There is a calendar where important information such as vaccinations, health checks and other information users might want to take note of which can be stored. There is also a gallery where photographs can be uploaded and charts where health information such as height and weight can be tracked. All of these features can help pet owners keep better manage records on their animal.
Both of these applications are free! These tools can help improve management records and overall efficiency in the project area.
