Barn camera

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It's calving time here and we have one of the coldest winter In history! But we are at 42 cows with 43 calves so it's not that bad in the barns.

We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore! Technology goes fast so I am sure that there's new cameras on the market better than what we have. Our system was installed by a technician, so I think the best is to call someone who is in that business near you.
 
Dubcharo":12p7swzv said:
It's calving time here and we have one of the coldest winter In history! But we are at 42 cows with 43 calves so it's not that bad in the barns.

We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore! Technology goes fast so I am sure that there's new cameras on the market better than what we have. Our system was installed by a technician, so I think the best is to call someone who is in that business near you.
I assume someone is watching 24/7 otherwise watching a replay would be pretty worthless if a problem arose.
 
If you had the choice to setup another barn would you guy's use wifi, or bury a cat6 cable? Couple hundred foot run.

Despite the hassle of digging, I think I want to use cable rather than mess with more wifi junk.
 
Dubcharo":i8uph2xp said:
We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore!

Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.
 
Supa Dexta":1qacshc4 said:
If you had the choice to setup another barn would you guy's use wifi, or bury a cat6 cable? Couple hundred foot run.

Despite the hassle of digging, I think I want to use cable rather than mess with more wifi junk.
WiFi.
 
Supa Dexta":c98p4fhd said:
If you had the choice to setup another barn would you guy's use wifi, or bury a cat6 cable? Couple hundred foot run.

Despite the hassle of digging, I think I want to use cable rather than mess with more wifi junk.

With the weather we have (-22F next day +45F with rain and return to -10F) It's tought on the wifi! But most of the time it work well.
NEFarmwife":c98p4fhd said:
Dubcharo":c98p4fhd said:
We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore!

Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.

We are 3 brothers here and I have full confidence in the one who watch at night so I sleep well.
 
NEFarmwife":26kgam7l said:
Dubcharo":26kgam7l said:
We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore!

Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.
That as my question. Who watches calving when you're asleep??? Seems it would require 24/7 monitoring or it would be worthless.
 
TexasBred":2chyertf said:
NEFarmwife":2chyertf said:
Dubcharo":2chyertf said:
We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore!

Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.
That as my question. Who watches calving when you're asleep??? Seems it would require 24/7 monitoring or it would be worthless.

In the height of calving, you could get up every couple hours just as you would to go physically check but you can be in the comfort of your own home with our system. Or, in two cases this year already... because I had access to camera, I was able to catch calves that had fell over themselves during birth and we were able to rush up there to save them. Had we not had the camera, we more than likely wouldn't have. We're calving 10-15 a day at moment.

If nothing is really going on, you go back to bed. Cows, not a whole lot to babysit but we just finished with heifers. Still a lot of physical presence but a camera doesn't require you to babysit at the barn the whole time.
 
TexasBred":1iplo9vv said:
NEFarmwife":1iplo9vv said:
Dubcharo":1iplo9vv said:
We are at our fourth year with cameras and we cannot live without them anymore!

Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.
That as my question. Who watches calving when you're asleep??? Seems it would require 24/7 monitoring or it would be worthless.

There is no need to monitor it 24/7. It is one of those...work smarter, not harder....deals. With the camera, our cows actually get checked more often than when we went out and did it in person. Especially at night. Whenever someone wakes up to go to the washroom, you just check the camera. No need to get dressed, and if there's nothing to worry about, 10 min later you're back in bed asleep. Plus, the camera in the barn makes things a lot less stressful for any cows calving. Just check them remotely, they don't even notice. If you were to walk up to the barn to check, you interrupt things, probably takes 20 min for some cows to settle back down.
 
Randi":xk3gou6d said:
TexasBred":xk3gou6d said:
NEFarmwife":xk3gou6d said:
Also a curse. I find myself GLUED to them. Even all hours of the night. I am so sleep deprived, my coffee needs coffee. My husband gives me a hard time about it but I can't turn away when one is calving.
That as my question. Who watches calving when you're asleep??? Seems it would require 24/7 monitoring or it would be worthless.

There is no need to monitor it 24/7. It is one of those...work smarter, not harder....deals. With the camera, our cows actually get checked more often than when we went out and did it in person. Especially at night. Whenever someone wakes up to go to the washroom, you just check the camera. No need to get dressed, and if there's nothing to worry about, 10 min later you're back in bed asleep. Plus, the camera in the barn makes things a lot less stressful for any cows calving. Just check them remotely, they don't even notice. If you were to walk up to the barn to check, you interrupt things, probably takes 20 min for some cows to settle back down.
When one wakes us.....keyword.....sleep 10 minutes longer and you may lose a calf. Sounds like it's more of a convenience than more effective system.
 
Supa Dexta":20fq3co2 said:
And I don't mean wifi cameras, but rather how to connect to the system from the house.

The ones we have are wireless. They are wired to a sending unit on the outside of the barn, then transmit wirelessly to the receiver in the house. Ours transmit 500-600 feet. They are rated to transmit up to 2 miles, I believe. But you have to have line of sight. And you can get an antenna that will transmit further than that. Trees will interfere with the signal, and that is a problem we have once the end of April rolls around and the trees leaf out.
 
TexasBred":37vca5wx said:
Randi":37vca5wx said:
TexasBred":37vca5wx said:
That as my question. Who watches calving when you're asleep??? Seems it would require 24/7 monitoring or it would be worthless.

There is no need to monitor it 24/7. It is one of those...work smarter, not harder....deals. With the camera, our cows actually get checked more often than when we went out and did it in person. Especially at night. Whenever someone wakes up to go to the washroom, you just check the camera. No need to get dressed, and if there's nothing to worry about, 10 min later you're back in bed asleep. Plus, the camera in the barn makes things a lot less stressful for any cows calving. Just check them remotely, they don't even notice. If you were to walk up to the barn to check, you interrupt things, probably takes 20 min for some cows to settle back down.
When one wakes us.....keyword.....sleep 10 minutes longer and you may lose a calf. Sounds like it's more of a convenience than more effective system.

I suppose it would be a convenience. But a convenience, that I know has saved calves. At least 2 or 3 last spring (sac over their nose) And definitely a convenience that saves a LOT of sleep. More sleep = happier people= less arguments and less error.

Is it more effective than going out and checking in person? Yes, and no. There really is NO replacement for going out and checking in person. The camera doesn't give you a 'feel' for what is going on. When a cow walks away from you, that normally would not even move unless you step on her. And I've gone out a few times because I thought maybe there was something going on that didn't seem 'right', only to get out there are find no problem. BUT, I've watched a calf born on the camera, saw that the sac didn't break, and been able to get there in time to save the calf, same thing for a calf that was dropped upside down. Most will wiggle themselves out, but we've had to go out and help a couple.

If we have a cow that we know is calving, we will check on her in, at most, an hour (usually 1/2 hour), and I don't have to go out and aggravate her to do it. That, is where I think it is really more effective. Not having to disturb a calving cow. I can sit there and watch her calve, 20 minutes....I've tried the same thing in the pasture, and had to finally walk away, because they won't settle down and have the calf.
 
To me the ability to WATCH without disturbing the cow is a huge advantage.
My cameras are set up to my TV in my bedroom (strictly used as a monitor). I wake up, peak at what's going on & roll over. I am a light sleeper and wake every few hours, but don't get cold!!!!
My old block barn has hard wire connection - barn is super close to house. Super clarity, can zoom in, 4 cameras.
My arch steel building is wireless and is "iffy". I have SecurityMan which only has two cameras. I have them mounted on the door frame & leave the steel door open a foot. I have a stronger antenna being shipped to me right now for (hopefully) better reception. The two stationary cameras do not give me enough good view. I have a splitter for the two systems to be switched to the TV.
I love Randi's camera. I have decided I need to designate a heifer sale to be used for that purchase.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":1skfw5vl said:
To me the ability to WATCH without disturbing the cow is a huge advantage.
My cameras are set up to my TV in my bedroom (strictly used as a monitor). I wake up, peak at what's going on & roll over. I am a light sleeper and wake every few hours, but don't get cold!!!!
My old block barn has hard wire connection - barn is super close to house. Super clarity, can zoom in, 4 cameras.
My arch steel building is wireless and is "iffy". I have SecurityMan which only has two cameras. I have them mounted on the door frame & leave the steel door open a foot. I have a stronger antenna being shipped to me right now for (hopefully) better reception. The two stationary cameras do not give me enough good view. I have a splitter for the two systems to be switched to the TV.
I love Randi's camera. I have decided I need to designate a heifer sale to be used for that purchase.
We had them in the dairy barn but it was to watch the milkers not the cattle. :lol2:
 
So do all of these systems have to have hardwired electricity or is there something out there that is good enough to run on solar?
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":2ltirwvr said:
Jake, I don't know of any, but in this day & age, might be.
Read back on Randi's posts and check out her link.

I read through that and have gone scoured the net. Doesn't seem like the solar units that are out there have the range or are so expensive it pays to run the power the 1000 ft. Cows may have to survive the old fashioned way.
 
Thought I'd share this tidbit with anyone who has an IP camera.

I was trying to mirror my iPhone to my TV, with no success. So I googled more on how to circumvent that (apple doesn't want you to mirror without Apple TV)... and discovered my Roku device could do it. So I downloaded the "IP Camera" to my roku channel and am now streaming my camera on my bedroom tv. I can't toggle on my roku app but I can use my iPhone app to move camera just as I would on my phone.

I'm in heaven. This makes my crappy, 16 inches of blowing snow and scooping bunks all day... so much better!
 

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