Cow Manager tags - anyone got good or bad experiences?

[sjt01]

At an R500 meeting yesterday, much discussion on the benefits of Cow Manager tags, everyone who had them was impressed. Perhaps this was to justify the money they had spent!
I see in a post from 27 July this year that @Cowmansam uses them, do many others of you? It would be very useful to pick up signs of pre-clinical mastitis.

 

[frederick]

At an R500 meeting yesterday, much discussion on the benefits of Cow Manager tags, everyone who had them was impressed. Perhaps this was to justify the money they had spent!
I see in a post from 27 July this year that @Cowmansam uses them, do many others of you? It would be very useful to pick up signs of pre-clinical mastitis.

Love them.
You won't see normal mastitis on them but will get toxic ones a bit earlier.

 

[Jdunn55]

Love them.
You won't see normal mastitis on them but will get toxic ones a bit earlier.

Are these the tags that also do heat detection?

 

[sjt01]

Are these the tags that also do heat detection?

They should do. https://www.cowmanager.com/en-us/solution/system
People were talking about £30/tag, which can be moved from cow to cow and are replaced free of charge if faulty, but not if lost. They were also saying £1/cow/month

 

[Jdunn55]

They should do. https://www.cowmanager.com/en-us/solution/system
People were talking about £30/tag, which can be moved from cow to cow and are replaced free of charge if faulty, but not if lost. They were also saying £1/cow/month

I wonder if they qualify for the grant as well? I've had a quote for collars and even with the grant they're extortionate

 

[TheRanger]

They should do. https://www.cowmanager.com/en-us/solution/system
People were talking about £30/tag, which can be moved from cow to cow and are replaced free of charge if faulty, but not if lost. They were also saying £1/cow/month

Is that £30 per tag upfront and an ongoing cost of £1 per tag per month?

 

[___\0/___]

We have them. Heat detection is very good. Health is OK but probably if you are milking the cows yourself everyday you will probably pick up problems before it does. Rumination is handy for keeping an eye on what sick cows are doing. Range of the sensors is a bit of a down side but we have a solar powered base unit which we move about.

 

[___\0/___]

Is that £30 per tag upfront and an ongoing cost of £1 per tag per month?

Heat detection only, health and rumination cost more.

 

[Jdunn55]

We have them. Heat detection is very good. Health is OK but probably if you are milking the cows yourself everyday you will probably pick up problems before it does. Rumination is handy for keeping an eye on what sick cows are doing. Range of the sensors is a bit of a down side but we have a solar powered base unit which we move about.

What's the range please? Mine have to walk a far distance, do you still need a base unit in the yard?

 

[___\0/___]

What's the range please? Mine have to walk a far distance, do you still need a base unit in the yard?

250m at a push so probably not ideal for you. It will download the info when they get home for milking but I found that a bit frustrating.

 

[TheRanger]

Heat detection only, health and rumination cost more.

Seems like a reasonable cost compared to some I've priced. Is there an installation cost on top of that? or installation covered as part of the monthly subscription?

Works out at £126 per cow over an 8 year period, with all faulty tags replaced FOC. So no hidden additional costs unless you lose tags? I was paying £80 to replace pedometers that have failed after 5 years, heat detection only.

 

[TheRanger]

I'v been saying for years that these systems should become cheaper as both technology and market competition improves. They seem to be getting more expensive though, a grant comes out and they all just bump their prices up.

 

[___\0/___]

Seems like a reasonable cost compared to some I've priced. Is there an installation cost on top of that? or installation covered as part of the monthly subscription?

Works out at £126 per cow over an 8 year period, with all faulty tags replaced FOC. So no hidden additional costs unless you lose tags? I was paying £80 to replace pedometers that have failed after 5 years, heat detection only.

Installation and training costs were £250.
Only other ongoing cost is male pins everytime you move the tags at 27p

 

[TheRanger]

Installation and training costs were £250.
Only other ongoing cost is male pins everytime you move the tags at 27p

How many tags have you lost? Even then £30 for the odd lost tag isn't as sore as £80.

 

[___\0/___]

Just one over a 6 month period, hopefully someone else on here can give you a longer term review.

 

[vantage]

I wonder if they qualify for the grant as well? I've had a quote for collars and even with the grant they're extortionate

Ordered Boumatic collars earlier this year, cost today is 60% more.

I'v been saying for years that these systems should become cheaper as both technology and market competition improves. They seem to be getting more expensive though, a grant comes out and they all just bump their prices up.

Absolutely true. Chap that does my dairy tech was saying exactly the same thing, pretty sure the 60% uplift in price is grant related.

 

[dairymandave]

We went with Cow manager about 3 years ago. Only went for the heat detection side but as a luck penny they gave me 3 months free of the Health module to try. I would have to say the heat detection is very good. Not 100% perfect but a lot better for us than doing it by eye. I work away during the day so its good for picking up heats even I'm not there. We tried the health module for the three months but I wasn't overly impressed. Picked up sick cows but also gave alerts for cows that had nothing wrong. I thought it was picking them up early so kept a close eye on them but it never turned into anything.
As for the range of them. Some of our fields are 800-1000m away from the yard and it won't pick them up. I don't find it an issue though as they only have to be back in the yard for 10 mins for the alerts to come through. I just bring the cows in first then set the parlour up so by the time I'm ready to start milking I know if there are any to draft off. Maybe a bit more of a pain if you get someone in to AI but as I do it all myself it works well.
We got it on the grant in NI at that time. Was all an upfront cost of £30 a tag then £1000 for transmitter and router. then I think another £1000-1500 for the use of the software. That only covers for 5 years though. All the sensors are under warranty for the 5 years so any that go faulty are replaced FOC. If a cow pulls one out though they won't cover it.

 

[Kiss]

If you buy the tag can you just pay monthly for say using it for 6 months?

seems to be well targeted to the grants with a low purchase price and then still have a subscription

 

[sidjon]

What's the range please? Mine have to walk a far distance, do you still need a base unit in the yard?

Look at moo monitor for distance, our is picking up cows over 1k away and were the cheapest.

 

[Farmer Keith]

250m at a push so probably not ideal for you. It will download the info when they get home for milking but I found that a bit frustrating.

Mine was picking up dry cows in a field off platform in July that’s 1.5km away, direct line of sight though.