Automation of weighing operations with electronic ear tags

For more than two years, the genetic evaluations station of Agonges (Charolais breed) has been using electronic ear tags to identify automatically the heifers during the monthly weighing operations. A fixed antenna recognises the animals without any need for human intervention and enables collecting the identities and weights in case an electronic weighing machine is used. The performances and the reliability of the material have been studied as well as the consequences of this installation from the organisational and working time points of view.