Moocall

Moocall is like a mobile phone that is strapped to the cow’s tail and it won the award for most innovative product at LAMMA 2015 in England last week. It monitors motion and texts the farmer on average one hour before the calf arrives. A second text is sent one hour after the first to remind the farmer. Designed to be easily put on and taken off cows’ and heifers’ tails, it can be synched to up to two mobile phones.

The real advantage is that farmers and animals can be in any part of the farm indoors or outdoors when a calving is detected. The embedded multi-roaming sim will pick the strongest network in that area and send a text message to the farmer’s phone. The rechargeable battery life is 30 days and the farmer gets a text when it is running low and needs to be recharged.

Each Moocall calving sensor is priced at €299 including VAT and the company says one unit can service a herd size up to 40-50 cows depending on calving pattern. There is a 15% discount for farmers purchasing more than one unit. The price includes the first 12-month data plan, which covers all costs. After this the cost of the 12-month data plan is €160 including VAT per year. The Agricultural Trust, publisher of the Irish Farmers Journal, has a small equity stake in this start-up company. For further details, see www.moocallsensors.com or call 01-9696038.

Vel’Phone

Vel’Phone, which is distributed by Pharvet (Ireland) Limited, sends an alert via a text at 12 hours before calving and at the onset of calving. The system is based on a thermometer probe and a reader box. The probe is inserted into the vagina of the cow a week before calving. This thermometer probe measures the internal temperature each minute close to the cervix and will send an alert as the cow’s temperature reaches a set threshold, after which the calving process continues and the thermometer is passed out with the water sack. A second alert tells the farmer that calving has started. Each of the temperature probes can then be washed, disinfected and inserted into the next cow.

The base station costs €3,300 plus VAT and comes with five probes. Additional probes cost €100 plus VAT. The sim card costs €20 per month. The system also has the capability of adding a heat detection collar and a health detection bolus, making it very versatile. For further information on Vel’Phone see www.pharvet.com.

iVET monitor

The iVET birthing monitor was designed by a veterinarian team in Germany and is on sale through O’Neill Weighing Systems, which has distribution rights in Ireland and Britain.

The system has a base station that comes with two probes that look like large red CIDRs. The starter kit of a receiver and two transmitters usually costs €1,500 plus VAT, but for the months of January, February and March, it can be bought for €1,200 plus VAT.

The receiver is plugged into the electricity mains of the shed and has an eight- to 10-hour back-up battery in case of power failure. It has a detection radius of 150m and can monitor up to 10 cows calving at one time. In each red transmitter you have a light and temperature sensor and a battery. You push the transmitter into the cow an hour, a day or a week before she calves and when she forces the water bag out, she forces out the red transmitter and daylight or a light in the shed at night will activate the light sensor. The farmer will receive a phone call and a text message to two mobile phones. When the farmer goes to the shed, the cow is calving, he/she picks up the red transmitter, clean it and put it back into its housing. This turns off the transmitter and resets it for the next birth. Each probe works for 20 calvings and the farmer gets a text to tell him when it is on its last calving. A new red transmitter costs €200 plus VAT, so this works out just over €10 per birth. There are no yearly sim card costs. See video at www.oneillweighing.ie or call 087 2792727.

BoviMinder calving and herd health

The BoviMinder is a complete herd health temperature system that can not only detect calving but also monitors your herd’s health throughout the year. A cow’s temperature rises 48 hours before calving and then falls hours before the calf is born. Tracking temperature in this way allows BoviMinder to alert the farmer well before the calf is born.

It uses an ear tag that measures the animal’s temperature every 15 minutes. It is recorded on the BoviMinder base station and the cloud-based software system alerts the farmer to a rise, or fall in an individual animal’s temperature via phone, mobile device or computer.

Changes in temperature can also identify sickness up to two days before symptoms become obvious for some illnesses. It means BoviMinder can quickly pick up temperature changes due to common problems such as mastitis, metritis, grass tetany, milk fever, pneumonia and many more common illnesses on dairy and beef farms. Early intervention reduces treatment costs, performance loss and the risk of mortality. The system also claims to pick up heats – UCD trials with the system have shown that temperature rises when cows are in heat.

The initial cost is €500 plus VAT for the base station with each tag costing €30 plus VAT. The tag has a five-year life span and there is a yearly subscription fee per cow ranging from €7.80 to €13 depending on the size of the herd. This includes access to the BoviMinder management system that will allow farmers to register calves and record treatments etc on their mobile phones. The system can work indoors and at grazing by using solar solutions for fields with no electricity. The Agricultural trust, publisher of the Irish Farmers Journal, has a small equity stake in this start-up company.

To find out more got to www.boviminder.com or phone Albert Moylan on 065 7042724

There are two other Irish systems in development

Cow-call is another probe-type calving device being developed by an Irish company. It works on light and temperature and is inserted into the cow before calving. It is currently being tested on five farms and is expected to be lunched later in the summer. www.cowcall.ie

Calving Sense, which was exhibited by Lisa English at the Ploughing Championships, works by strapping a unit on the cow’s tail.

The tail units are simple to attach and reuse, and are lightweight. The base station containing the SIM card provides cover over a 100m radius, which can be extended if required. The base can manage 20 tail units at one time. The system is currently on trial at Teagasc, Moorepark. A wider trial is planned for late spring 2015, and the system will be on sale in the autumn. Email info@animalsensing.com or call 086 086 0566.