Manual, smart, and hybrid groups

When you create an Animal profiles group (a collection where each animal has its own profile), Creatures asks "How should animals get added?" Your answer decides whether you hand-pick the members, let rules keep the list current, or do both. This article explains each option so you can pick the right one, and what each choice means for how the group behaves afterward.

Count groups skip this question, since they track a number instead of individual animals. See Track animals by count with count groups.

Choose animals myself (manual)

What it is: you search for and select each animal yourself, and the list never changes on its own.

What it means: the membership is exactly what you set, with nothing recalculating in the background. It is the right choice for a fixed set like a show string, a specific breeding pen, or a sale lot, where the group should be stable.

The implication: because nothing is automatic, keeping the group accurate is on you. You add and remove members by hand at any time from the group's Animals tab, and the group stays put until you change it.

Keep updated by rules (smart)

What it is: instead of choosing animals, you set one or more rules, and any animal that matches is included. As your animals' details change, the group updates itself.

What it means: the group is a living query, not a fixed list. An animal that starts matching is added; one that stops matching drops out, automatically.

The implication: a smart group is read-only. You do not add or remove animals by hand, and the membership recalculates from your rules whenever you view the group. A smart group also needs at least one rule, or there is nothing to match on.

You can filter by any combination of these. Each filter narrows the group, and animals must satisfy every filter you set:

• Species: limit to one species (for example only cattle). Leave it on Any species to span all of them.
• Breed: limit to one breed. This unlocks only after you pick a species, since breeds belong to a species.
• Sex: Any sex, Female, or Male.
• Status: Any status, Active (living animals), or Deceased. Use this to keep a working group to living animals, or to build a memorial or historical group.
• Age under: include only animals younger than a number of years (0 to 30). For example, "Age under 1" gathers everything under a year old. This is calculated from each animal's date of birth, so a group like "weanlings under 1" stays correct as animals age past the cutoff and drop out on their own.
• Withdrawal status: Any withdrawal status or In withdrawal now (animals currently under a medication withdrawal hold, so you can see at a glance which animals must not enter the food supply yet). Important nuance: this filter only finds existing holds; it does not create or clear them. Logging or ending a medication is what sets or lifts a hold.

If AI suggestions are turned on, you can also describe the group in plain language (for example, "All Highland heifers under one") and Creatures will propose editable rules and show you the included and not-included animals before anything is saved. You can refine the suggestion in words, then apply it, or use it once as a fixed list instead.

Use rules, then adjust (hybrid)

What it is: a hybrid group starts from your rules, then lets you add or remove specific animals on top of the rule-matched list.

What it means: you get the automation of rules plus a few manual overrides. The rule-matched animals stay current automatically, while your hand additions and removals are kept alongside them.

The implication: your manual additions are a permanent override. An animal you add by hand stays in the group even if it never matched the rule (and an animal you remove stays out), so hybrid is the choice when rules get you 90% of the way and you need to force-include or force-exclude a handful of exceptions.

Changing the rule type later

You make this choice when you create the group, and you can change it later from the group's edit screen (for example, switch a manual group to smart once you have settled on the rules). The larger choice between Animal profiles and Count group is the one that is fixed once the group exists, so choose that one carefully up front.

Related information

• Create and manage animal groups
• Track animals by count with count groups

Updated on: 23/06/2026