Alertas

Alert of possible childbirth: how it works and how to get the most out of it

What is the Possible Birth Alert

The alert of possible delivery warns you, up to 2 days before, that a female is about to give birth. This way you can organize yourself and be aware at the moment that matters most.

It is mainly designed for extensive cattle farming: cows that move freely next to their flock. It is in this scenario that the pre-calving behaviour can be detected most reliably.

How it works

The alert combines two sources of information: the data sent by each female's collar and the pregnancy date you record in her file. With the date, the system knows when calving is approaching. With the collar data, it detects the changes in behavior that announce it.

To interpret these changes, the algorithm compares each female with two references:

  • Her own history. Each female has her way of moving, and the alert learns what is normal for her. (At least 16 days of data history are needed for the alert to be issued.)
  • Your flock. The system compares your activity with that of the rest of the group, so it adapts to each herd and each flock. (Making changes in flocks or changing devices between animals in the last 3 weeks before calving can interfere with alertness).

Thanks to these references, the alert is able to:

  • Notify up to 2 days before delivery.
  • Recognize when a female leaves the flock to give birth.
  • Watch day and night, wherever you are.
  • Warn only once per animal, without repeating alerts.

That's why the accuracy of the alert depends largely on you: the more accurate the data on the file and the more stable the cow's environment, the better it can anticipate calving.

How to get the most out of it

  1. Record the pregnancies in the animal's file. This is the most important step: without this information, the system does not know when the estimated date of delivery is approaching.
  2. Update the pregnancy date when you have better data. You can edit the pregnancy event at any time. If an ultrasound, palpation, or veterinary checkup gives you a more accurate date, change it in the app. The more accurate it is, the more fine-tuned the alert will be.
  3. Check that the collar is working and has coverage. The device must be active and not have the status "To check" or "To return". Also check that the area has good coverage, so that the collar sends data constantly during the end of pregnancy.
  4. Make sure that the collar has been placed on the same female for at least 3 weeks. To have the most accurate data and for the alert to be as reliable as possible, we recommend not making changes to devices or modifications to the batches of the animals in the last weeks before calving.
  5. Avoid locking the female in a pen or small enclosure before calving. With less space, the cow moves less naturally, and the alert can't interpret that change well. In that scenario, the accuracy drops, and the alert may even not appear.
  6. Register the birth as soon as it occurs. When the birth is recorded in the file, the system terminates the monitoring of the pregnancy and stops sending alerts about that female.
All these recommendations must be combined with the farmer's criteria on the gestation times of the females in his farm and specific external factors of his farm that cannot be measured by the devices.

Why can a false birth alert go off?

  1. Enclosure or small enclosures: a female enclosed in a shed or in a small enclosure moves little and may appear to be about to give birth.
  2. Change of plot or lot: a change of pasture alters your routine for a few days.
  3. Management (vaccinating, weighing, herding, or separating): Moving cattle all at once changes their usual pattern of movement.
  4. Bad weather: rain, storms or strong cold reduce the movement of animals.
  5. Female separated from the group on a regular basis: in the mountains or extensive pastures, a female being far from the others is normal and does not indicate calving.
  6. Poor coverage or poor connection: if the collar is in an area without coverage, such as a ship, a valley or an area of complex orography, it stops sending positions. Without enough data, the algorithm can give unreliable warnings or not be able to warn.
  7. Collar removed, dropped, changed or without battery: if the collar is removed, changed or stops transmitting, the data no longer reflects the actual movement of the collar.