Moocall devices

Englebert Humperdink

I was looking on the internet at these Moocall sensors . They look to be a great job. I work off farm so it would be handy to get notice of a cow calving. They seem to be way cheaper than a camera system and easier to set up. Does anybody have one and what do they think of it?

blindside88

Just had a quick look at it, not a farmer myself but I help out my father in law and he's getting on in years and thought it might be handy for him. Did you notice the €160 charge per year per unit for updates and texts. It may be less of an initial investment than the camera system but the extra costs could add up. Also it's expected to last 5 years (I know it's minimum but if they thought it'd last much longer they'd surely say so).
Does look like a handy device though

Englebert Humperdink

I saw the €160 charge all right. You don't have to pay that in the first year though, I think. I lost two calves last year though. Saving even one would pay for a few years charges.

blindside88

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

I saw the €160 charge all right. You don't have to pay that in the first year though, I think. I lost two calves last year though. Saving even one would pay for a few years charges.

That's a good point alright. The father in law set up the cameras 2 years ago. Used them all of the time for the first year. Then went back to his old ways

FYM

blindside88 wrote: »

That's a good point alright. The father in law set up the cameras 2 years ago. Used them all of the time for the first year. Then went back to his old ways

for some reason i think the yearly cost is lower ( could b wrong) has anybody anymore updates on this system

FYM

blindside88 wrote: »

That's a good point alright. The father in law set up the cameras 2 years ago. Used them all of the time for the first year. Then went back to his old ways

for some reason i think the yearly cost is lower ( could b wrong) has anybody anymore updates on this system

Englebert Humperdink

I have got my Moocall eventually. It was supposed to come by mid November but never arrived till the end of December. I rang the company several times and was told it would definatly be in the post on numerous dates. They never contacted me. When it did arrive I put it on the cow I expected to calf first. However it has fallen off three times now!!! I'm really dissapointed with this product and couldn't recommend either it or the company. If I get it to work I'll post again.

blackdog1

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

I have got my Moocall eventually. It was supposed to come by mid November but never arrived till the end of December. I rang the company several times and was told it would definatly be in the post on numerous dates. They never contacted me. When it did arrive I put it on the cow I expected to calf first. However it has fallen off three times now!!! I'm really dissapointed with this product and couldn't recommend either it or the company. If I get it to work I'll post again.

Heard from a farmer it can go off for a couple days when the cow isn't calving. That would drive you nuts. It's only its first year out so I'm sure it will improve. Recon the system that you have to insert into the cow is more accurate though.

Bicki85

Anyone out there using the Moocall device to monitor cattle calving?? Seems a great piece of technology

Mad4simmental

Looking at them today as well. The boss man is mad to get a few but I'm not convinced about them tbh.

mallethead

I decided to try one
i put it on the first cow and a couple of days later i get a text on my phone half an hour later she put out the water bag.
The second cow i put it on had a bit of prolapse and i had to get her stiched again i got a text 45 mins before she put out the water bag so i had plenty of time to cut the stiches
I have an i phone so i set the phone to ring me when i get a text and repeat evry minute for ten minutes until i open the message
I found it very handy , but i've only a small number of cows

king_m

I was looking at these as well,they appear to be good device, my only questions would be on durability of the device in a shed(possibility of being scratched against the wall etc), the life of the device and would any calibration or the likes be required after a few months.will make a call to them in the next day or two to see what answers i will get.

Bicki85

Great , be interesting to see what durability it has , live away from farm and it not ideal situation, don't want father in and out of shed in middle of night either checking cattle, let me know if you are chatting them

blue5000

How much are they?

Bicki85

€299, seems reasonable

lab man

plus 150 euro each year to get the text message, i believe maybe someone who has one can confirm this

mallethead

160 a year battery is suposed to last 5 years

Bicki85

Surely if it saved one calf alone it more than pay for itself. Seems ingenious , reading reports on it and some very good reports, no more sleepless nights (needless ones anyway) I think I will purchase one later in the year for when I've a few early ones in October , ave a few bills to clear up first

Englebert Humperdink

I had one but had to send it back. Kept falling off the cows tail, tried it on two different cows but fell off long before they started to calve. If I was in bed at night and got no text from it I wouldn't know if the cow was not calving or if it had fallen off. IMO I think it was a design fault. There is only one strap to keep it on the cows tail. If there were two it would be a securer job. It's no good if you can't trust it.

king_m

So i phoned Mr. moocall yesterday with my few queries so here goes-
-costs 299 for year one
-120 euro + vat every other year after, irrespective of the amount of text messages sent be it 25 or 500 and up dates
-coverage on every phone coverage with roaming sim card in the device
- you can get the messages sent through to two phone numbers at no extra costs( also can change numbers as well)
- one year warranty for the battery and device
(life expectancy of device at least 5 years- if so why not longer warranty??)
- Battery lasts up to 30 days on one charge
- Battery needs 24hrs / over night (can not remember rightly) charge time
- Can be placed on new cow immediately after previous cow just turn on and off.

Make of it what you want after this, it does seem like and excellent idea/product-
will i buy?? Dont know as i already have cameras installed 3 years and father is around during the day while i am at work and only have a small number (20) cows, on the other hand one calf saved and its a paid for it self in year one as well as up to year 4 based on a 750 euro weanling

Nettleman

mallethead wrote: »

I decided to try one
i put it on the first cow and a couple of days later i get a text on my phone half an hour later she put out the water bag.
The second cow i put it on had a bit of prolapse and i had to get her stiched again i got a text 45 mins before she put out the water bag so i had plenty of time to cut the stiches
I have an i phone so i set the phone to ring me when i get a text and repeat evry minute for ten minutes until i open the message
I found it very handy , but i've only a small number of cows

Me too. Havent fitted it yet. the ongoing data charges are pretty steep after year 1:eek:

Count Mondego

The 160 a year is pure greed to be honest. I'd pay the 300 no bother but why can't I put my own sim card into it and pay only around 20 quid for a few txt messages for the year. They'd be flying out the door if that was an option.

Mad4simmental

Bought it yesterday so I'll update this in a week of two to let ye know how it goes. I reckon I could put my own sim into it so I'll look into that to.

Count Mondego

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Bought it yesterday so I'll update this in a week of two to let ye know how it goes. I reckon I could put my own sim into it so I'll look into that to.

Will you be able to program the device to send the message to your phone though? That's probably where they'll block it.

Tokyo

Would love to pick one of these up for the old man, and the price is right, but it's really hard to justify the yearly tariff for most small farmers, I'd think. If you could pop your own SIM card into it and throw €20 of call credit at it when you needed it, I think I'd be far more open to the idea.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Count Mondego wrote: »

The 160 a year is pure greed to be honest. I'd pay the 300 no bother but why can't I put my own sim card into it and pay only around 20 quid for a few txt messages for the year. They'd be flying out the door if that was an option.

+1

I was looking at them last year buy the yearly data charge looked excessive to me.

Or maybe i am just being tight:o

bogman_bass

I ordered one today. I'm on the road so much these day I need a bit of help at calving. hopefully it'll do the job

Mad4simmental

Count Mondego wrote: »

Will you be able to program the device to send the message to your phone though? That's probably where they'll block it.

Not sure I'm going to look into it.

patktmh

Have placed device on cow in last few days. 3 cows in the one calving unit waiting to calve. Got 2 warning texts last night about high cow activity and then 1 early this morning. No sign of any water bags yet never mind a calf. Bit disappointing as claims 95%+ accuracy.

Greengrass1

Friend has bought it. I'll ring him this week sometime too see what he thinks of it

kowtow

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Friend has bought it. I'll ring him this week sometime too see what he thinks of it

Or you could text him instead.

Make the subject something like "Moocall alert... 10134 Now Calving (Triplets)"

Tomjim

I bought one put it on a hfr and it was spot on, she calved within hrs of receiving the txt

king_m

patktmh wrote: »

Have placed device on cow in last few days. 3 cows in the one calving unit waiting to calve. Got 2 warning texts last night about high cow activity and then 1 early this morning. No sign of any water bags yet never mind a calf. Bit disappointing as claims 95%+ accuracy.

Hi Patktmh- any further news on your moo call , did your cow calf or was the sensor miles out with its readings altogether?

Nettleman

king_m wrote: »

Hi Patktmh- any further news on your moo call , did your cow calf or was the sensor miles out with its readings altogether?

Ring them about it, its 300 squid, not exactly small beer. There may be some memory chip in it that they can analyse to see what was happening with cow before and after the text-did ya not get a second text too?

mallethead

patktmh wrote: »

Have placed device on cow in last few days. 3 cows in the one calving unit waiting to calve. Got 2 warning texts last night about high cow activity and then 1 early this morning. No sign of any water bags yet never mind a calf. Bit disappointing as claims 95%+ accuracy.

Brother had one who did this as well turne dout she had a twisted calf bed

king_m

Ordered one today, seemed like to good of a product,they say it should be delivered by the end of the week. Won't be calving till the end of the month but will keep ye all posted on its success/ failure rates.

dunlopwellies

Used this for the first time this week. It was on the cow for a couple of days and Friday morning got the first message at 6am. Second message at maybe 8ish am and the cow calves at approx 9am.
Pretty happy with that result.
As for it falling off and getting damaged on the wall etc it stayed in place for 2 or 3 days and a few scrapes but that's to be expected.

renandstimpy

would you not need one for each cow or am I mistaken

dunlopwellies

renandstimpy wrote: »

would you not need one for each cow or am I mistaken

Each device can only be used on one cow at a time and can be moved on to the next after the first cow calves.
If you have many cows due to calve at the same time then you would need moor units.

renandstimpy

that's making it extremely dear way of keeping an eye on your cows .. with a stock bull running cows it would be more difficult to use I'd say than using ai

Count Mondego

renandstimpy wrote: »

that's making it extremely dear way of keeping an eye on your cows .. with a stock bull running cows it would be more difficult to use I'd say than using ai

It's hard to know at times. Was watching a cow bag up for over a week and then another one dropped a calf out of the blue. Date bulled means fu$k all when they can bring 20 days.

jfh

i'm sure if it was in the right hands, it could be unlocked like a mobile phone?

doyleshill

I am thinking of buying a Moocall Sensor. Any advice appreciated.

Miname

doyleshill wrote: »

I am thinking of buying a Moocall Sensor. Any advice appreciated.

If it Saved a calf or two it pays for itself,but I wouldn't be over keen on it, mine has been very hit and miss I've got texts two days before they calved to texts after they calved. I've had them fall off the cow a couple of times and pretty lucky to find it once. It's a so so product and I didn't even bother putting it on the last ten or fifteen cows to calve.

tanko

If you use the search at the top of the Page there's a fair amount of stuff about Moocall on F&F.

Wes Palmer Lee

Miname wrote: »

If it Saved a calf or two it pays for itself,but I wouldn't be over keen on it, mine has been very hit and miss I've got texts two days before they calved to texts after they calved. I've had them fall off the cow a couple of times and pretty lucky to find it once. It's a so so product and I didn't even bother putting it on the last ten or fifteen cows to calve.

My experience is similar to the above.
Bought it for heifers, Two "Lazy" calvers never got the text although everything was in place when I checked..

jd06

Well people.
Is it worth it I see an add in the ifj
329 inc vat
How are he getting on with it
Pros and cons appreciated

Kovu

Merged a few Moocall threads.

Sam Kade

I have my own moocall sensor built into my head That yoke seems a pure gimmick, one poster said he got text messages 3 hours before the cow calved. So you get up at 2 am after a text but the cow doesn't calve until 5, so much for getting a nights sleep.

CallofGuti

jd06 wrote: »

Well people.
Is it worth it I see an add in the ifj
329 inc vat
How are he getting on with it
Pros and cons appreciated

Pros: it's super reliable, you can have two numbers on it so if you're not about someone else gets the warning texts, you're text before and essentially during calving.

Cons: the price is the only main one for me. Apart from the initial cost, there's the annual fee for the roaming / sim card and it's pretty saucy at about 166 per year.

Overall, good outweighs bad. One unit for about 30 cows, one calves just move on. I use it with cameras too so I feel I'm well covered so I don't have to annoy the cow constantly calling into the shed. She knows more about calving than I do!

J.O. Farmer

Sam Kade wrote: »

I have my own moocall sensor built into my head That yoke seems a pure gimmick, one poster said he got text messages 3 hours before the cow calved. So you get up at 2 am after a text but the cow doesn't calve until 5, so much for getting a nights sleep.

It gives you on average an hours notice but even if you are up for 3 hours it's only 1 night. you could be up at 2am every night for a week expecting a cow to calve and she might not. 1 night is better than 7.