To get started quickly with your cattle, you can connect your iLivestock account to the British Cattle Movement Service CTS (Cattle Tracing System) and download your full herd list.

To do this you'll need your CTS Farm Software Credentials, which can be requested from CTS specifically for connecting with Farm Software such as iLivestock

*** Please note these are different to your Government Gateway details ***

You can call BCMS to request these 0345 050 1234, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm, just ask for your 'Farm Software credentials to connect with iLivestock'

Alternatively you can complete this BCMS CTS Web Services User ID and Password Request Form and then email it to [email protected], with the email title: CTS Web service user ID and password request.

BCMS will then send your User ID and Password in separate emails to you, usually within 5-10 working days.

Step 1: Select the 'Admin' menu tab on the bottom navigation bar and then tap the Reporting icon

Step 2: From the Databases menu, select 'CTS Operations'

Step 3: From the CTS Operations menu, select 'Get Cattle On Holding'

Step 4: A Defra CTS Login box will pop up and prompt you to add your Farm Software Credentials

Step 5: Please add in your specific Farm Software credentials as sent to you via BCMS

Next tap Download to begin the download of your herd from CTS

A pop notification will confirm the download is taking place and then another will confirm it is then complete.

Step 6: Navigate to Animals on the menu at the bottom of the app screen to to see your herd list downloaded

(Tip!): To view your cattle in passport (Visual ID) order, go to (as shown below):

1.a Groups on the lower menu, then select 1.b Permanent on the upper group menu. Open the Cattle group by tapping the the chevron on the group card) and then tap 2.d Visual at the top menu of the screen

When your animals have been allocated to a group, its easy to update the group animal details using the 'Settings on ALL group animals' feature.

This action can be done on any group, Auto groups, Sheep groups, Cattle groups or your Permanent groups if you are adding cattle for the first time.

Step 1: Find and open the group and then tap the Action button to open the Group Action menu

Step 2: Select Settings on all group animals

Step 3: Now select Set group ON Holding to allocate the group to the relevant holding.

Note!: If you want to record a Move On, it's best to set them on the Third Party holding that you purchased them from. If just adding animals that are already on farm, simply select the relevant Your Holding

Step 4: If adding directly to your own holding, select the relevant holding under My Holdings

Step 5: Your animals will now be allocated to the holding you have selected. You can open each animal and verify the location by checking the holding details at the bottom of each animal summary.

Step 4: If adding to a third party holding, select the relevant holding under Third Party

Step 5: Your animals will now be allocated to the holding you have selected. Note as this is a Third Party, your animals will be greyed out (meaning they are OFF farm)You can open each animal and verify the location by checking the holding details at the bottom of each animal summary.

To update the rest of your animal details, repeat the steps 1 & 2 and then choose from the relevant Group Settings to add the - Breed, Gender, DOB, Management Tag and so on from the list of options below:

Online: Use the chat icon in Admin on the app or lower right on the web dashboard