How to Track Pig Health and Records Without Expensive Software

Simple, budget-friendly record-keeping solutions for small pig farms

Keeping accurate pig health and farm records does not have to mean investing in complicated or expensive software.

For a small pig farm, the most important thing is to have a simple system that helps you answer practical questions:

• Which pigs have received treatment?
• When is a follow-up treatment due?
• Which animals are unwell or need monitoring?
• When were your sows served, and when are they due to farrow?
• How many piglets were born, lost or weaned?
• Are your pigs gaining weight as expected?
• What has each batch cost to feed and manage?
• Which pigs are ready for sale?

You can begin with paper records, spreadsheets or a low-cost pig management app. The best option is the one that is affordable, easy to update and reliable enough to use consistently.

Why pig health and farm records matter

Good record-keeping is not simply an administrative task. Your records can help you notice problems earlier and make better decisions across the farm.

For example, they may help you identify:

• Repeat illness or treatment in the same animal
• Health problems affecting several pigs in one pen or batch
• Increased piglet losses during a particular period
• Sows with consistently smaller litters
• Missed vaccinations or treatment follow-ups
• Slower-than-expected growth
• Rising feed costs
• Pigs approaching sale weight
• Breeding dates and expected farrowing dates

Without organised records, important information can easily remain on a whiteboard, in a notebook or in someone’s memory. This becomes more difficult to manage as the herd grows or more people become involved in daily farm work.

What pig records should a small farm keep?

You do not need to record everything from the first day. Start with the information that supports animal care, farm management and any applicable regulatory requirements.

A practical record-keeping system should normally cover the following areas.

Animal identification

Record enough information to identify the individual pig or group involved.

This may include:

• Ear tag or animal identification number
• Name or farm reference
• Breed
• Sex
• Date of birth
• Dam and sire, where known
• Pen, location or batch
• Current status

Individual records are particularly helpful for breeding animals. For growing and finishing pigs, it may be more practical to manage some information at pen or batch level.

Health observations

When a health concern is noticed, record:

• The date
• Animal, pen or batch affected
• Symptoms or observations
• Action taken
• Person responsible
• Whether veterinary advice was obtained
• Date the animal should be checked again
• Outcome

Even brief notes can be useful. Recording “sow not eating—monitor tomorrow morning” is more reliable than expecting someone to remember it during a busy day.

Medicine and treatment records

Treatment records should be clear and complete. Depending on your farm and local requirements, this may include:

• Animal or group treated
• Medicine used
• Reason for treatment
• Dose
• Date administered
• Person who administered it
• Treatment duration
• Withdrawal period or withdrawal end date
• Prescribing veterinarian, where applicable
• Treatment outcome

Always follow veterinary advice, the medicine instructions and the record-keeping rules that apply in your country.

Breeding records

Useful breeding information includes:

• Heat observations
• Service or insemination dates
• Boar or semen details
• Pregnancy-check dates and results
• Expected farrowing date
• Actual farrowing date
• Return-to-heat or failed pregnancy
• Weaning date
• Next expected breeding activity

These records help prevent important dates from being missed and make it easier to understand the reproductive performance of each sow.

Farrowing and litter records

For each litter, consider recording:

• Sow identification
• Farrowing date
• Total piglets born
• Piglets born alive
• Stillborn piglets
• Mummified piglets, if recorded
• Piglet deaths
• Cross-fostering or transfers
• Treatments and vaccinations
• Number weaned
• Weaning date

Over time, these figures can help you compare sow and litter performance.

Weight and growth records

You do not necessarily need to weigh every pig every week. Even periodic weight records can help you monitor progress.

Record:

• Weighing date
• Individual pig or batch
• Weight
• Previous weight
• Growth since the previous measurement
• Age or production stage
• Notes explaining unusual results

This can help you identify pigs that may require closer health, nutrition or management attention.

Mortality records

Where a pig dies, record:

• Date
• Animal or group
• Age or production stage
• Suspected or confirmed cause
• Relevant symptoms
• Action taken
• Whether other pigs may be at risk

Reviewing mortality information by litter, age group, pen or batch can help reveal patterns that might otherwise be missed.

Budget-friendly ways to keep pig records

There is no single system that suits every farm. Each option has different advantages and limitations.

1. Paper record books

Paper is usually the cheapest place to start. A notebook, printed farm sheet or clipboard can work well for a very small herd.

You could use separate pages for:

• Daily health checks
• Medicine and treatments
• Breeding activity
• Farrowing
• Weaning
• Pig movements
• Weights
• Feed
• Sales and mortality

The main advantage of paper is that it is familiar and easy to carry around the farm. It does not require an internet connection, device or software training.

However, paper records can become difficult to search and compare. Pages may be lost, damaged or completed inconsistently. It can also take time to calculate totals or find an animal’s complete history.

If you use paper, keep the design simple and use the same format every time.

2. A whiteboard for immediate farm tasks

A whiteboard can be useful for displaying what needs attention today or this week.

For example:

Today’s task	Pig or group	Due date	Completed
Check appetite after treatment	Sow 24	14 July	☐
Pregnancy check	Sow 31	15 July	☐
Weigh growing pigs	Batch 6	17 July	☐
Prepare farrowing pen	Sow 18	18 July	☐

A whiteboard is helpful for visibility, but it should not be the farm’s only permanent record. Information can be erased, changed or missed. Important health, treatment and breeding details should also be recorded somewhere more permanent.

3. Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet can be a good next step when paper records become difficult to manage.

You can create separate sheets for:

• Animal register
• Breeding
• Litters
• Health events
• Medicine treatments
• Weights
• Feed
• Mortality
• Sales

Spreadsheets make it easier to search, filter and calculate information. They are relatively inexpensive and can be customised around your farm.

However, they still require careful maintenance. Dates may be entered in different formats, identification numbers can be mistyped and formulas may be accidentally changed. A large spreadsheet can also become difficult to use on a mobile phone while working around the farm.

If you choose spreadsheets, use dropdown lists, protected formulas and consistent animal identification wherever possible. Keep regular backups as well.

4. Online forms linked to a spreadsheet

Simple online forms can make spreadsheet-based record-keeping easier.

Instead of opening a large spreadsheet, the farmer or stockperson completes a short form on a phone. The answers are then added automatically to the underlying spreadsheet.

You could create separate forms for:

• Reporting a health concern
• Recording treatment
• Registering a farrowing
• Recording piglet mortality
• Entering weights
• Reporting a sale or movement

This approach can be affordable and useful for small teams. However, building useful summaries, reminders and connections between records may require more setup and maintenance.

5. Affordable pig management software

As the farm grows, separate notebooks, forms and spreadsheets can become harder to coordinate. This is where a dedicated pig management system may offer better value.

The word “software” does not necessarily mean an expensive system built only for large commercial units. Some modern systems are designed for smaller farms and offer monthly subscriptions without requiring major upfront investment.

A suitable system should help you:

• Keep animal and batch information together
• Record health events and treatment follow-ups
• Manage breeding, pregnancy checks and farrowing
• Track litters, weaning and mortality
• Record weights and growth
• View upcoming farm tasks
• Monitor sales and performance
• Access records from a phone, tablet or computer

Before paying for software, check whether the system fits the way your farm actually operates.

How to choose affordable pig record-keeping software

The cheapest option is not always the one with the lowest monthly price. A system that is difficult to use, requires duplicate entry or contains features you do not need may offer poor value.

Ask the following questions before choosing:

Is it designed for pig farming?

Generic livestock or farm software may not support important pig-specific workflows such as heat tracking, services, pregnancy checks, farrowing, litter management and weaning.

Can it be used on a mobile phone?

Farm records are more likely to be completed when they can be entered close to where the work happens.

Will it show what needs attention?

Storing data is useful, but the system should also help you identify upcoming and overdue tasks.

Can it manage individuals and batches?

Breeding animals may need individual histories, while growing pigs may sometimes be managed by batch or pen.

Is the pricing clear?

Check for limits on animals, farms, users or features. Also establish whether there are setup charges, long contracts or additional training costs.

Can you try it before committing?

A free trial or live demonstration allows you to test the software against your real farm workflow.

Can your records be exported?

You should understand whether you can download your data if you later change systems.

When is it time to move beyond paper or spreadsheets?

You may be ready for a dedicated system when:

• You regularly forget follow-up tasks
• Records are stored in several different places
• More than one person needs access
• It takes too long to find an animal’s history
• You enter the same information more than once
• Breeding or health dates are being missed
• Spreadsheet formulas are becoming difficult to maintain
• You cannot easily compare sow, litter or batch performance
• Preparing reports takes too much time
• The herd is growing beyond what your current system can comfortably manage

You do not need to wait until the existing system completely breaks down. Moving earlier can make the transition easier.

A simple record-keeping routine for small farms

Whatever system you choose, consistency matters more than complexity.

A practical routine could look like this:

During the daily farm check

Record:

• Pigs that appear unwell
• Changes in appetite or behaviour
• Injuries
• Treatments given
• Mortalities
• Sows showing signs of heat
• Farrowing activity
• Tasks requiring follow-up

At the end of the day

Check:

• Whether treatments were recorded fully
• Whether follow-up dates were added
• Whether new births or deaths were entered
• Whether urgent tasks remain incomplete

Once a week

Review:

• Upcoming breeding and farrowing dates
• Health problems by pen or batch
• Treatment follow-ups
• Piglet losses
• Weight or growth concerns
• Animals approaching weaning or sale
• Missing or incomplete records

Once a month

Compare:

• Breeding performance
• Litter and weaning results
• Mortality
• Growth
• Feed use
• Sales
• Recurring health problems

The purpose is not to create more paperwork. It is to turn everyday farm information into useful actions.

Common mistakes to avoid

Recording information too late

Details are easily forgotten. Record important events as close as possible to when they happen.

Using inconsistent animal identification

“Sow 12,” “No. 12” and “S12” may be treated as different animals in a spreadsheet. Choose one identification format and use it consistently.

Keeping information in too many places

If treatments are in a notebook, breeding dates on a whiteboard and weights on someone’s phone, it becomes difficult to see the full picture.

Recording an event without a follow-up

A health record should not end with “pig unwell.” Include what needs to happen next and when it should be checked.

Collecting information that is never reviewed

Only record information that supports animal care, management, compliance or business decisions—and make time to review it.

Failing to back up digital records

Keep regular backups of spreadsheets and ensure that online systems have appropriate security and recovery arrangements.

How LivestockIQ supports affordable pig record-keeping

LivestockIQ is designed to bring the main pig-farm workflow into one connected system.

Rather than keeping breeding records, health notes, litter information, weights, batches and sales in separate places, farmers can manage them together.

LivestockIQ supports areas such as:

• Animal and batch records
• Breeding and heat tracking
• Pregnancy checks
• Farrowing and litter records
• Weaning
• Health events and follow-ups
• Weight and growth records
• Mortality
• Feed and batch management
• Sales and farm reports
• Daily farm priorities

The aim is not simply to replace a notebook with a digital screen. It is to help farmers see what needs attention and use their records to manage the farm more effectively.

Because LivestockIQ works across phones, tablets and computers, records can be accessed without installing a complicated desktop system.

Start with a system you will actually use

You do not need expensive software to begin keeping better pig health and farm records.

A well-organised notebook may be enough for a very small herd. Spreadsheets and online forms can provide more structure as your record-keeping needs grow. When information becomes fragmented or important tasks are being missed, affordable pig management software can bring everything together.

The right system should save time, improve visibility and support better decisions—not create additional work.

Start by recording the information you need most, use consistent animal identification and establish a short daily and weekly review routine. You can then move to a more connected system when the benefits justify the cost.

Ready for a simpler way to manage your pig records?

See how LivestockIQ brings health, breeding, litters, weights, batches, sales and daily farm priorities into one place.

[See How LivestockIQ Works]

You can also explore LivestockIQ with a 30-day free trial, with no card details required.