This is the full loop in one page. Each step links to the detailed article if you want more.
Step 1: Set up the camera
Put your trail camera into time lapse mode at a 10-second interval, running around the clock. Turn the timestamp overlay ON — the date and time printed on each photo is not optional, we read it. Set the clock to 24-hour format and make sure it is accurate.
Mount the camera near the start of the barn or pen, at least 5 feet up, aimed down the alley so the opposite bunk stays in frame the whole way down.
Full details: Camera requirements and settings and Where to mount your camera.
Step 2: Let it run for one to two weeks
Close the case and walk away. One or two weeks gives us a real picture of your routine instead of one unusual day. A 256GB card at a 10-second interval holds roughly that much.
See SD cards, power, and how long to record.
Step 3: Pull the card and send us the photos
Take the SD card out of the camera and put it in your computer. Then choose one of two ways to get the photos to us:
- The FeedBunk AI Compressor (recommended). It shrinks the photos on your own computer first, so a card that would take hours to upload finishes in minutes, and it picks up where it left off if the connection drops. Download it from feedbunkai.com/get-started and follow Upload straight from the app.
- Your browser. Sign in, create a project, and drag the photos in. Works anywhere, but large sets take much longer. See Upload photos in your browser.
Either way you will be asked for a farm name and a barn name (site name is optional), and you will confirm the batch before anything is sent.
Step 4: Outline your bunk
Right after you confirm the batch, you will be asked to mark the four corners of the feed bunk on the far side from the camera — the strip where feed gets dropped. This happens while your photos upload in the background, so it costs you nothing in time.
This is the single most valuable minute you will spend. It tells us exactly which strip of concrete to measure, and everything in your report is measured there.
You will also be asked when you usually feed and how often feed gets pushed up. Both are optional, but they let the report grade your actual times against your intended ones.
Step 5: Wait for processing
Processing runs on our servers. Close the app, close the browser, get on with your day — we email you when the report is ready, with a button that opens it. You can also watch progress on your Projects page, where each project shows its current status.
Step 6: Read your report and correct it
Open the report and work down the page: the header numbers, the three metric cards, your feeding and push-up schedule, then the event lists and charts.
Anything that looks wrong, you can fix. Reject an event that should not count, re-tag one that was labelled wrong, and tell us which machines on your farm handle feed. The numbers recalculate from your corrections.
Start with What’s on your report, then Improving your results.
Doing it again
For the next batch you do not repeat the setup. Leave the camera where it is, let it fill another card, and upload again. Your bunk outline and feeding schedule stay saved.