Patent ID: 7785267

Claim:
A method for the management of a plurality of dairy animals by performing the following steps for each dairy animal, the method for each dairy animal comprising the steps of: determining an initial state of the dairy animal wherein the initial state of the dairy animal corresponds to a reproduction and lactation cycle of the dairy animal; graphically illustrating the initial state of the dairy animal with a graphic symbol on an electronic display screen by positioning the graphic symbol on a location of the electronic display screen corresponding to the dairy animal's initial state, wherein the electronic display screen displays a graphic representation of the reproduction and lactation cycle of the dairy animal; automatically obtaining sensor data of a state of the dairy animal to determine whether there has been a change from its initial state; and automatically changing the graphic symbol of the dairy animal using an automatic controller when the automatically obtained sensor data indicate a change from the dairy animal's initial state, and not changing the graphic symbol when the automatically obtained sensor data indicate no change from the dairy animal's initial state.