Moocall calving sensor that sends message to your mobile

“TELL tale tattler, buy a penny rattler and tie it to a cow’s tail” . . . an old nursery rhyme from times past but alas it has come pass in today’s world of high tech gadgets and telecommunications.

Now the electronic Moocall device – attached to a cow’s tail – can pick up 600 pieces of data per second and in the process give a one hour warning to farmers when the calving process is about to begin.

The Moocall sensor, that first ‘caught the eye’ at last year’s Ploughing Championships, is now a big seller with dairy and suckler farmers – especially those people who may be working off farm.

Offaly farmer Niall Austin – the inventor of Moocall – has now teamed up with the M50 webstore to distribute the sensor that costs €268 plus VAT.

It might seem a tad on the expensive side, but according to Niall Austin on a well managed farm where accurate records are kept, one Moocall sensor should be enough to monitor up to 40 cows.

According to Niall Austin, the device will work even in areas of poor mobile network coverage because of a special chip in the sensor that can operate over different networks.

The sensor works by detecting and recording tail movement patterns, spinal contractions and levels of agitation that all point to the cow going into labour.

Approximately one hour before calving, the sensor sends out an SMS (short message service) to your own mobile and also one to another designated number. A second reminder text will be sent one hour after the first one.

Dairy farmer from Abbey, Loughrea, Bertie Roche, told the Farming Tribune that he had found the Moocall sensor to be a big help and to be quite accurate in predicting a cow going into labour.

“I suppose that’s it’s one of those devices that can just help to make life that bit easier for suckler or dairy farmers. It is particularly helpful if a farmer is away from his animals when one of them is due to calf. I would recommend it,” he said.

The Moocall sensor is attached to the cow’s tail using a ratchet and rubber strap, taking less than a minute to put on. Battery (rechargeable) life is approximately 60 days, with a text also arriving when the charge levels drop to 15%.

One little sting in the tail! There is an annual charge for the service of €122 plus VAT (the first year’s ‘rent’ is included in the initial purchase price). According to Moocall, this charge is to ‘cover their data, software, service and support costs’.