One of my long-time readers sent me an email last week, which contained a link to information about a new product that has gone on the market recently. Knowing my skepticism regarding new technology, the reader was curious as to whether I thought the device had any merit for my cattle operation. As he put it, “My wife and I just wanted to get your take on it.” Well…
The new electronic device was invented in Ireland and designed to attach to the tail of a pregnant cow when she is within a few days of the expected calving date. A tiny computer, inside the device, is programmed to understand the tail movements of a cow in labor and then send a text message to your smartphone that states, “Cow #xxxx is beginning labor. Check on her immediately.”
Dozens of testimonials from farmers all across Ireland swear by the accuracy and dependability of the new instrument. Many of them are certain that they were able to save calves (and cows, no doubt) that would have otherwise been lost to the trauma of a difficult birth. Their only complaint was the cost of the appliance (about $300) and the yearly phone service cost of more than $150. Even though the tool can be transferred to another animal as soon as that one calves, the cattleman with a couple hundred head would have a pretty healthy investment to initiate such a program.
So, after watching the videos on the Internet and doing a fair amount of research on the new appliance, I have concluded a few things: 1) None of my cows can be approached in the field, nor stand quietly to allow me to take the two minutes required to attach something to their tail, therefore I would have to run them through a squeeze chute, have a cowboy rope them (as I’ve said many times – I am not a cowboy) or shoot them with a tranquilizer dart. 2) I would still have to know which ones are close to calving and the older I get, the less I seem to know who is close and who isn’t. 3) I start calving February 1st of each year, unless the neighbor’s bull came visiting earlier, plus, it is not uncommon for my cows to have between 50 and 70 calves within the first 20 days, thus the number of these miracle machines I would need seems to make it very cost prohibitive.
But, I might make an exception for the first-calf heifers. Each spring, I usually calve out around 20 of the first-timers, and they are much more likely to have problems, anyway. Because of that, and the availability of the new technology, I have played out the scenario in my mind. Since the heifers are kept in a much smaller area and come into the corral every day, it would be easy to attach the device. I can envision a cold, icy, February night, with the wind howling at 30 MPH. It’s 3 A.M. and I hear my phone make that shrill noise that alerts me to a text message. Drowsily, I roll over and put on my glasses to read, “Cow #xxxx is going into labor. Check on her immediately.” I roll back over in the warm bed and gently nudge my wife from her dead-to-the-world slumber.
“What is it?”
“The phone; it’s for you.”
