Records Keeping Programs (Screen Caps, specifics)

[Deer Heart]

I know this has been discussed many a time regarding preferences with programs, but I'm looking for specifics. I have been using the free version of Kintraks for several years, anytime I needed something recorded, it has been my go-to for the simplicity. But now that I am actually working on developing pedigrees and need certain things to show and certain things not to show and it has no options for these... well. Let's just say I am now shopping around. I am also now reaching the limit of my free version, but do not feel like committing to Kintraks financially based on the issues listed below. If your program does these things, sign me up!

What I want from a record keeper that Kintraks is failing to provide;

• I want to be able to see a list of ALL of the rabbits currently in my rabbitry by default (not just the last few I was editing, I just edited those why would I want them next?!).
• I want to be able to order this list by the cages my rabbits are in and not something as superficial as a name, even by gender would be more useful as I tend to arrange my cages that way.
• Have rabbits which are sold, deceased, eaten not show on my list/rabbitry yet still have their records stored for pedigrees and breeding statistics. (Seriously Why Kintraks, why?!)
• Not have to create entire records for rabbits not even, nor having ever been in my rabbitry, just so I can include them on printed pedigrees.
• Tell me when an important event is about to happen! Seriously! A popup on startup of the program, an idle thing on my desktop, an e-mail, a text to my phone, I don't care! Something! I am always finding myself suddenly realizing that someone is due soon and needs a nestbox... but who?..." and then having to dig through Kintraks to find the answer. This makes them even recording that information feel rather... pointless?

What would be awesome but not essential;

• Something more "with the times" and will connect in some way on my cell phone to allow input on the go.
• Better layout/interface in general. I am constantly forgetting how to find specific information on Kintraks.
• Updates that can be done right through the program itself, not having to constantly go to the website to essentially re-dl the program every time.

What I'd like from ya'll is screenshots of the records keeping programs you use. Obviously with nothing private/personal on them. Just something to give a gist of how it lays out your rabbitry for you, how it lists your rabbits, the sort of thing you will be having to click on when anything changes and needs updated. Whether or not your program has one, some, all, or none of the things I am looking for while still providing the essential information (nestbox & predicted due dates, costs, sales, rabbits owned, pedigree printouts, etc)

 

[skysthelimit]

Some of those features do happen on Kintraks, maybe just not the free version.

At startup I am notified of events, when to place the nestbox, expected kindling date, ages of my kits, when they should be weaned, when does should be rebred. The update button appears on the start up screen as well. I only see the rabbits I own in the box, there is a I own on the ped input and that is my filter. Sold, deceased and otherwise gone should not appear if you click those options on the peds.

It does irritate me that I have to make a record for each rabbit on the ped, though I don't have to fill out anything, just make a record of the name.

You can get the full version free if you have a Windows version earlier than Windows 7.

Even still, at some point I would like to try the Bunny Trails, just because it looks cool. http://www.bunnytrailssoftware.com/

 

[KenoshaRabbits]

Deer Heart,
Have you considered using MS Excel? With a little work I was able to come up with something similar to what you required. You can have a master list, filter out rabbits that aren't in your cages, sort by cage number. And if you would like to make your own pedigrees with the info you want on it; you can do that too if you learn how to use the INDEX and MATCH functions.
I made up some fake entries (since I am only in the planning phase) all I need to do is type in a rabbit name and it'll autopopulate a pedigree going back 3 generations.

-- Wed May 18, 2016 8:10 pm --

Here is a list of every rabbit

A filtered list of only those currently on hand

A sorted list by cage. Could sort by any sort of information.
<br /><br /> -- Wed May 18, 2016 8:14 pm -- <br /><br /> Here are some of the pedigrees I whipped up.
Empty/Before


Here it is after entering the rabbit's name.

 

[alforddm]

I use globalpedigree.com and have been fairly happy with it. It's inexpensive at $12 a year. The only thing I wish it had that it doesn't is to show the age of all litters instead of just the birthdate and some sort of expense tracker. It does have a calendar, pedigree, litter tracker.

Yes! It opens your "herd" by default: I want to be able to see a list of ALL of the rabbits currently in my rabbitry by default (not just the last few I was editing, I just edited those why would I want them next?!).

No, you can sort by ear number but not by cage number: I want to be able to order this list by the cages my rabbits are in and not something as superficial as a name, even by gender would be more useful as I tend to arrange my cages that way.

Yes, rabbits that are marked as deceased no longer show on your list: Have rabbits which are sold, deceased, eaten not show on my list/rabbitry yet still have their records stored for pedigrees and breeding statistics. (Seriously Why Kintraks, why?!)

Yes, you just add them to the pedigree: Not have to create entire records for rabbits not even, nor having ever been in my rabbitry, just so I can include them on printed pedigrees.

Yes, you can get notifications by email or popup: Tell me when an important event is about to happen! Seriously! A popup on startup of the program, an idle thing on my desktop, an e-mail, a text to my phone, I don't care! Something! I am always finding myself suddenly realizing that someone is due soon and needs a nestbox... but who?..." and then having to dig through Kintraks to find the answer. This makes them even recording that information feel rather... pointless?

What would be awesome but not essential;
Sort of, you can access it from any browser but mobile is not really great: Something more "with the times" and will connect in some way on my cell phone to allow input on the go.

I like it: Better layout/interface in general. I am constantly forgetting how to find specific information on Kintraks.

Yes it's all online so you don't have to do updates: Updates that can be done right through the program itself, not having to constantly go to the website to essentially re-dl the program

 

[BlueHaven]

I use global pedigree as well. Its a pain to put the rabbits in that aren't in the data base but once its done its done.

 

[caroline]

I LOVE globalpedigree!!
I no longer worry about "loosing"my whole herd,like happened when I was using kintraks
And it's fun to browse the 66,000+ rabbits that are listed on there and to sell a rabbit to
someone else who also uses it and be able to transfer the rabbit to them! They like it too
because then they already have the rabbit's whole pedigree without having to do anything but pay you

 

[fhjmom]

Evans Software is the best!! http://evsoft.us/

I would take screen shots but I am actually in the middle of downloading it to my new computer. It has lists of active, show, and 3 archives for different animals (those in your herd, show quality, deceased, sold, etc.). You can see all your animals, by breed, or by breeder (we have animals assigned to each of the kids for show purposes so I can also see each of their animals separately). I don't use cage numbers but there is a field for cage numbers and you can sort by any field you wish, if I remember correctly, so that is doable. When creating a pedigree, I just enter the ancestor's information on that pedigree and Evans creates that rabbit in the archives, but I don't have to enter any additional information. When entering rabbits, Evans also automatically searches the database and if a rabbit with the same name or ear number is entered, it will pop up and ask if this is the same rabbit already in the records. There is a task manager that has built in tasks, such as putting in nest boxes, palpating, etc. or you can set reminders for tasks you make up yourself. These show up as a pop up in the program. There may be additional notifications as well, but I don't use them. There is an app for android devices but I am unfamiliar with how it works since all of our phones and tablets are iPhone/iPads/iPods.

Additional features that I love are when you add rabbits from a litter born in your rabbitry, you input the number of does and bucks, then "expand litter". Fill in the names, ear numbers, and varieties and all those rabbits have complete pedigrees entered in your inventory (based on the info from the parents' pedigrees)! So easy!!

There is a Master Breeding List that you can print. I keep a print out on the door of the rabbitry showing dates for palpate, nest box install, due dates, kindle date, wean date... I can update with a pen when needed then periodically I take it in and update it in the computer and print another one to post.

I don't remember what breeds you have or if you show, but there are additional features that help with show entries and tracking wins as well as a genetic features for breeds that have varieties where keeping track of that matters.

The other thing that sets Evans apart is the customer service. You will not find any product that beats their customer support!!

 

[Deer Heart]

Evans Software is the best!! http://evsoft.us/

Okay, ngl, I am extremely impressed. Since they have a free trial, I'm playing with that. They include weather patterns, moon phases, and holidays on their lil task master calendar. Which honestly was not a thing I thought I needed but then you think about it... :|

Yes they sort the bunnies by cage # which is easiest for me. I have stopped naming rabbits for the most part as I can't remember them anyway (most of my rabbits are REW anyway, they generally look exactly the same to me and the more I breed and cull the more they all seem to act exactly the same too).

Yes it lets me show JUST MY CURRENT BUNNIES by default on startup.

I'm not giving up the financial logs (expenses) and it seems to record gain much much easier and better than Kintraks does.

It records fiber and weight and shows a graph for this. I am absolutely amazed by this you don't even know.

It sits on the system tray and is clearly poised to remind me when something needs doing, even when it's not open

It is so so so customizable, I am extremely pleased that I can control everything that I'm seeing.

It has the ability to sync with my android through my wifi which saves a lot of time and going back and forth for me.

It is expensive, but the fee appears to be a one-time-only-and-it's-yours situation. I'm just sad you have to buy each species individually as I have poultry as well and plan to get into goats again after my move. But I think Kintraks would work just fine for those species anyway as there's only so many of them I plan to get. Kintrak's problem is, for me, that once I reached a certain number of animals it felt unmanageable to me and began to niggle very deeply at OCD things I have that only seemed to magnify the more buns I had listed. This however, seems to have resolved all of them? I'm not sure, but so far so good.

 

[RabbitRees]

Deer Heart,
Have you considered using MS Excel? With a little work I was able to come up with something similar to what you required. You can have a master list, filter out rabbits that aren't in your cages, sort by cage number. And if you would like to make your own pedigrees with the info you want on it; you can do that too if you learn how to use the INDEX and MATCH functions.
I made up some fake entries (since I am only in the planning phase) all I need to do is type in a rabbit name and it'll autopopulate a pedigree going back 3 generations.

-- Wed May 18, 2016 8:10 pm --

Here is a list of every rabbit
View attachment 4
A filtered list of only those currently on hand
View attachment 3
A sorted list by cage. Could sort by any sort of information.
View attachment 2

-- Wed May 18, 2016 8:14 pm --

Here are some of the pedigrees I whipped up.
Empty/Before
View attachment 1

Here it is after entering the rabbit's name.

These excel lists are amazing. I do a lot of work in Excel all day with vlookups and pivot tables etc. This is a fantastic idea! Its sad that not many people realize how totally cool excel is and how much time is could save you. Thanks for the idea on this! I will have to start working on mine. (I would suggest selling these on Etsy or something!)

 

[KenoshaRabbits]

These excel lists are amazing. I do a lot of work in Excel all day with vlookups and pivot tables etc. This is a fantastic idea! Its sad that not many people realize how totally cool excel is and how much time is could save you. Thanks for the idea on this! I will have to start working on mine. (I would suggest selling these on Etsy or something!)

Thanks, glad you think it looks cool. I will make the suggestion of using index/match over vlookup. With vlookup you can only search for information to the right oc the column you are searching in. Also, and more importantly, I could not get vlookup to search for a term the was determined via a previous vlookup. But then again I only spent about 15 minutes trying to get vlookup to work.

If I have a few moments, I might create a new thread explaining how to create a pedigree that will fill in itself. Since it is just using logic formulae in Excel it doesn't feel right selling it; especially compared to those who wrote actual programs.

I think people would like the ability to do this. Honestly, while I am sure the programs out there have other great qualities and functionalities; my guess is most people really use them for the pedigree creation. Maybe knowing how they could do this on a program they already own would be cool. Especially for those members looking to save a few bucks.

 

[fhjmom]

I have to post a quick update to reiterate what awesome custom service you get should you choose to use Evans! My new computer is a touchscreen 2-in-1 laptop that will act as a tablet when the screen is folded back. I was having trouble with some of the new pop-up windows not opening when navigating certain things within Evans. I emailed with Dave Evans and he logged on to access my computer remotely. We figured out that there is a glitch when the computer is running in tablet mode, but it is fine in the regular mode. He also talked me through a couple of other things while we were in the program that I had questions about. He is emailed another user that was having similar problems now that we know what the issue was. He said he will work on an update to avoid that issue in the future! And updates are free!

 

[KenoshaRabbits]

I created a post on how to make a pedigree using Excel.

creating-a-pedigree-instantly-using-excel-t30190.html

 

[Deer Heart]

I love the Excel sheets, don't get me wrong, but there is no excel on my home PC It is extremely expensive and well beyond what I'm willing to spend on this (almost $100 every year?!)

 

[AprilW]

I use Bunny Trails software and could not be happier. It offers all of the features you're looking for: option to list only rabbits you currently own or all the rabbits you have info for, you can record breeding, litter notes, show results, keep up with expenses, etc. I don't have it, but you can get access for your cell phone/tablet. Their website has a lot of screenshots and more details than I could share of what you can do with the program. I was hesitant to pay for any program and used Word docs for years, but even for a rabbitry as small as mine, I think paying $60 for the program was worth it.

 

[Shan_non]

KenoshaRabbits, Thank you so much for the template. That was extremely generous and helpful!!

 

[shazza]

I love the Excel sheets, don't get me wrong, but there is no excel on my home PC It is extremely expensive and well beyond what I'm willing to spend on this (almost $100 every year?!)

google drive has a knockoff excel, but i'm not sure if it has all the functionality you may use. and it's free if you have a google account

i've been using kintracks and yeah i have some of the same complaints. i've been hesitant to actually buy a program because to be honest, i keep fantastic paper records, but it'd be nice sometimes to have it all in one place on my computer as well. additionally, i am able to keep up with paperwork NOW...but when i expand i may not be able to. it's a shame the bunnytails mobile app isn't for android too, that'd honestly be worth me paying for in of itself. i may end up buying it too because it looks like it has more the functionality that i want.

 

[MeadowView]

I too use global pedigree. I still eventually want to get Evans, but ya girl is not made of money and I can't make myself splurge like that. One thing I like that wasn't mentioned: When building a pedigree, you automatically search the database for the ancestor you're trying to enter. When you have rabbits from larger, more widespread rabbitries, often times they're already in the database, and then that branch of the pedigree is automatically filled out!

For example, I have a rabbit from Linda Bell. When I put in his dam's ear number, she was the first result. Once I assigned her as his dam, my work for that side of the pedigree was done. It's also interesting to see which rabbits share heritage with yours.

 

[Winterwolf]

I've been using Hutch for about six months now and I highly recommend it. Very easy to use, wonderful setup and sorting system for the rabbits, and you can print off custom pedigrees and cage cards. Any rabbits that are marked as sold/died/etc. get archived so they don't show up as being in your rabbitry, but you can still access all their info including pedigrees. I've been very happy with it so far and don't have any complaints. Not a bad price, either. For full use of the premium features, it's $40/year or $130 for a lifetime membership. I think the limited access version is $20/year or something like that.
I don't remember the web address, but you can probably just google it. They're on Facebook, too, last I heard.

 

[guardianoasis]

I have kintraks and because my computer is old I have the full version for free. That being said, I don't use it as much as I thought I would. A lot of the complaints you have about it don't change with the full version. We use global right now as our main record keeping program although my main complaint is that the notifications pop up on the site but unless I log in every day, I don't see them. That an it's an all in one program... my OCD likes more organization. We will eventually get Evans. Just a matter of affording it