3.4 Batch and Serial Numbers

Use a Batch to identify each flock or intake of animals you manage together. Use Serial Nos where you need to identify individual animals.

Batch setup

1. Create a Batch for the livestock Item using standard ERPNext batch setup or the receipt workflow.
2. Mark Is Livestock Item for dashboard summaries and performance alerts.
3. Enter the verified Hatch/Birth Date for biological target comparisons.
4. Select a submitted Performance Profile when targets are available.
5. Review Location and capitalization settings where used, then save.

Batch showing Is Livestock Item, Hatch/Birth Date, Performance Profile, and Lifecycle Traceability button.

Creating a Batch does not create livestock stock. Submit a receipt into the actual house. A Batch belongs to an Item; stock movements establish its Company and warehouse quantities.

The target report uses Hatch/Birth Date with no manufacturing-date fallback. If your Batch displays age based on Manufacturing Date, treat that as a separate display; enter Hatch/Birth Date for target comparisons. Reassigning a profile changes historical comparisons; use document history to review assignment changes.

Individually identified livestock

Use ERPNext Serial Nos for supported individual-animal workflows, including dam/sire links and serial-specific veterinary capitalization. Configure serial creation on the Item before receiving animals. Do not assume batch dashboard calculations support every serial-only workflow.

The Batch Life-cycle Traceability button opens the life-cycle report and proposes the user's default Company.