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Feedlot · Feeding

From the bunk call to the cost of feed on each pen.

The bunk call is made on a phone at each pen and becomes the morning’s run. Mixes and drops are weighed as they happen, and finalizing the day gives every animal its feed and its cost.

Request access Explore the feed day
A drawn feedlot through a day’s feed. In the morning the caller drives the ute up the alley and calls Pen 14’s bunk on the phone; the call reaches the office, where the caller’s figure is used, the schedule generated and its delivery route shown on the yard map. The jobs reach the phone in the truck at the mill; the mix is started, and the auger runs in the last of the barley. The truck feeds the alley and the cattle walk up to their feed; Pen 14’s drop of 2,978 kilograms reaches the office. In the late afternoon the office finalizes the run, and every animal in Pen 14 takes its share: steer 1048 gets 11.9 kilograms and its cost.

From a working feed run at a 10,000-head feedlot

In October the main bunk call took 27 minutes, down from 44 in July, and 84% of pen drops landed within 2% of the call, up from 63%. The feed delivered over the call came to $140 a day, down from $389.

Calculated from feed runs, July and October 2026.

Rations

Change a ration without losing the one the pens are eating. Every change is a new version, with its own cost a tonne.

  • Know what each ration costs a tonne at today’s prices. The ration shows the pens and head on it and the kg a head they’re fed.

  • See how a change moves the cost before you save it. The cost a tonne updates as you set the shares, and a version saves once they add up to 100%.

  • Past feed records keep the recipe that was fed. A version is locked once cattle have been fed on it.

  • A ration’s cost shows only when every ingredient has one. Until then it reads Not priced.

Office web

Ingredients

Know what’s in the shed and how many days it will last. Each weighed pour comes off stock when the feed day is finalised.

  • Days of cover come from the last 14 days of use. An ingredient is marked low at 7 days or fewer, or at its reorder point.

  • Record a delivery the way the docket reads. Enter the price per tonne or as the line’s total, with or without GST.

  • Tonnes go into stock when the feed arrives, even if the price comes later. The cost is added once the price is entered.

  • A docket already on file is flagged before it’s recorded again.

  • Count stock as at any day, before or after that day’s feeding. On hand and cost from then on build on the count.

Office web

Feed cost

Each animal’s feed is costed at that day’s prices. When a price changes later, you see what it moves before anything is re-costed.

Billing & custom feeding

  • Invoiced days keep their cost when a price changes later. Only feed not yet billed is re-costed.

  • Charge a billing group its own ingredient prices. They replace the list price for that group’s cattle from the day you set.

  • Each animal’s feed cost covers every pen and ration it was on.

  • Feed eaten before induction is added to each animal when it’s inducted.

Office web

Learnt on the feed run

Not every feed day goes to plan. Here’s how the everyday cases are handled.

  • When a machine breaks down, move the rest of the run to the machines still working. Loads already delivered or under way stay as they are.

  • A feed job can only be done by one person. If two people take it without signal, the first to reach the office keeps it and the other phone is told.

  • Ingredients that won’t cover the run are shown before mixing starts. The run says how much is short, from the stock on hand.

  • A pen called after the run was planned can be added. Regenerate the run while it is still only scheduled.

  • When a pen isn’t fed, the driver records why. The reason shows beside the pen on the office’s feed board.

  • When the truck weighs more after a drop than before it, the driver records why.

The feed run handles 74 more like these.

  1. 1 Bunk call 15

    • A pen that wasn’t on the last round
    • A pen with no cattle in it
    • A bunk round someone else started
    • A pen scored with the wrong letter
    • A spoken call the phone can’t make out
    • A pen called twice in one day
    • A pen with no feeding history
    • A bunk still full
    • A bunk call with no kilograms
    • A bunk that needs cleaning
    • A dirty or slow water trough
    • A health problem spotted on the round
    • A call that didn’t save
    • A round finished with pens not called
    • A caller’s figure the office changed

  2. 2 Feed allocation 11

    • A big jump on what a pen last ate
    • A pen with no ration or feed amount
    • A pen with no route from the mixer
    • Cattle that moved after the run was drafted
    • Cattle booked to move pens on the feed day
    • A mob booked into a pen before it arrives
    • A pen fed on two runs in one day
    • A ration on two versions in one run
    • A load more than the machine holds
    • A run that was planned but never fed
    • A run the office changes mid-day

  3. 3 Ready for delivery 8

    • A job someone else is holding
    • A job given back half-done
    • A job handed to someone not on the run
    • Someone stepping away mid-run
    • Someone leaving before the run is done
    • Two crew with the same first name
    • A cart ready before its mix
    • Carts waiting on the mixer

  4. 4 Mix 16

    • Feed going in before Start is tapped
    • A mixer heavier or lighter than recorded
    • A scale that hasn’t settled
    • A display switched between gross and net
    • A scale set to the wrong units
    • A mixer display the camera can’t read
    • An amount typed in place of the reading
    • An extra zero or a slipped decimal
    • A reading below zero
    • A mixer reading lower than before
    • A scale zeroed mid-pour
    • A pour that overshoots its target
    • A pour or drop well short of plan
    • Ingredients or pens done out of order
    • A batch heavy or light on its plan
    • Mixer and cart scales that disagree

  5. 5 Feed delivery 11

    • A cart loaded short
    • More off the truck than was on it
    • Feed left on the cart at the end
    • A pen fed after it was marked not fed
    • A drop the phone never recorded
    • A drop taken back after it was recorded
    • A scale reading corrected by hand
    • A load marked done with a pen still to feed
    • A job never closed on the phone
    • A finished job that needs correcting
    • A run called off after work has started

  6. 6 Finalize actuals 13

    • A feed day finalised while work is open
    • An earlier feed day left unfinalised
    • An ingredient left blank in a weighed mix
    • A mix with no weights at all
    • A day finalised after cattle moved pens
    • An animal that changed pens on the feed day
    • An animal with no entry date
    • A mob inducted after the feed day
    • Cattle sold or dead after the feed day
    • A pen with cattle on no run that day
    • A finalised day with animals missing their feed
    • A feed day finalised twice
    • A correction after the day is finalised

Mixer and cart scales

Use the scales already on your mixer and carts. They connect over Bluetooth or through an adaptor, and the phone’s camera can read an indicator’s screen.

Works with
  • Rinstrum
  • Digi-Star

FAQ

Questions feed offices ask.

Does it work without signal?

Yes. Mixes, drops and the jobs the crew takes are saved on the phone first and sent to the office when signal returns. If two people took the same job without signal, the first to reach the office keeps it and the other phone is told.

Platform
Do we need scales on the mixer and carts?

No. The crew can type the figure off the indicator. When a scale is connected, its reading fills the figure in.

What if a machine breaks down during the run?

Move the rest of the run to another machine. Loads already delivered stay as they are, and a mix cut short keeps what was weighed.

Can we bring in feed from our old system?

Yes. Import a feeding or batching report as CSV or Excel, match its pens, rations and ingredients, and the day’s feed is recorded.

How is feed charged to the cattle’s owners?

At each day’s price for each ingredient, on the owner’s invoice. A billing group can have its own prices, and days already invoiced never change.

Billing & custom feeding
Which scales does it work with?

Common mixer and cart scales, read straight into the app. The Works with page lists the makers, and if yours isn’t connected yet, we connect it at no charge.

Works with

Another question? Email hello@paddockpath.com