Michael O’Driscoll
County Cork, Ireland
‘I feel like I’d be blind without it now!’, so says Michael O’Driscoll about Nedap CowControl. Michael milks 90 cows in a spring calving system just outside Ballineen in Co. Cork and began looking at heat detection systems to free up more of his time.
‘One of the main reasons I installed the system was to be able to spend more time with my family. Our children are ranging in age from 12 years down to 18 months, and I felt I was starting to miss out on their childhood. From that point alone, CowControl has been a huge help,’ Michael recalls. ‘In spring, I’m not spending time watching for heats at night after milking. I can get in earlier and spend time with the kids or help with them, and I’m not worrying about going back out to check cows. It’s great peace of mind knowing that nothing will be missed.’
Michael made the decision to install both the health and heat detection modules, and he’s very glad he did. ‘I’ve been surprised by how useful the health monitoring has been for the herd. I installed Nedap CowControl as a heat detection system, but the benefits from the health alerts are as valuable to me as the heat alerts,’ he explains. ‘I was away with the family one day, and I got an alert that a cow hadn’t been active and wasn’t ruminating from soon after morning milking. As soon as I got home, I checked her, and she had mastitis in one quarter. It was swollen and hard, so I wouldn’t have missed it at milking time that evening, but the fact that I knew she hadn’t been eating for 8 hours made me treat her with an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic as well as a mastitis tube. She didn’t take long to get back to herself and was ruminating again within two hours. Before having the Nedap data, I would have just used a tube, and then maybe had to use stronger antibiotics in two- or three-days’ time when it didn’t clear up.’
Michael’s vet has utilized the benefits of the system too, after some initial skepticism. ‘One morning I noticed that a bulling heifer hadn’t been ruminating for eight hours and her activity was down too. I called the vet, and initially he couldn’t find anything wrong with her. It wasn’t long after I’d put the system in, and he was joking, saying that at this rate I was going to put his children through college with the call out fees!’ laughs Michael.
On further investigation, the vet found that the heifer was seriously dehydrated with a bruised shoulder. ‘She must have been injured by another heifer who was on heat,’ recalls Michael. ‘The discomfort must have stopped her from eating and drinking. I wouldn’t have spotted that without CowControl, and the heifer got the treatment she needed. Now, when the vet calls to see a sick animal, the first thing they ask to see is the rumination and activity data! There hasn’t been one false alarm with the health alerting since we installed the system.’ Antibiotic use has been reduced since CowControl was installed too. ‘I’m able to treat cows earlier with less invasive products. It’s definitely helped the system pay for itself,’ explains Michael.
Michael had decided to install a heat detection system to achieve a few goals. He wanted to free up some of his time, create a more compact calving season, and make better use of genetics on farm. Previously, Michael was tail painting cows during the breeding season and visually watching for heats. ‘You could spend 15 minutes standing at the gap before bringing the cows in watching for heats, and I’d go back out after milking in the evenings to watch them as well. It would take a fair bit of time every day, as well as topping up tail paint. With Nedap CowControl that’s all eliminated. It’s a huge time saver,’ contends Michael.
He used to use AI followed by stock bulls to clean up at the end of the breeding season. While aiming for a more compact calving system, he found that some of his better cows were slipping through the net.
‘A few of what I would have considered my best production cows were never served to AI, because I didn’t see them bulling. But each year they held to the stock bull. This past spring, they all showed clear heat alerts on CowControl, and they all held to their first service. I’m delighted I’ll be getting higher genetic merit AI bred calves from these cows next spring now!’ exclaims Michael.
Nedap CowControl has also helped with eliminating culls from the herd, as the stock bull occasionally impregnated cows Michael had marked for culling. ‘I’m using 100% AI now, and it means that those cows are culled and I’m not breeding from problem cows,’ he explains. ‘I feel I’m making far better use of the genetics I have because of the data I get from CowControl.’
Stock bulls had already proved an issue on farm, and Michael was keen to eliminate them. Nedap CowControl has made this possible. ‘I just didn’t like have stock bulls around the place,’ he says. ‘I had an incident with a bull six years ago, and with young kids on the farm, I didn’t want to take any risks. It’s a huge peace of mind knowing they’re not around anymore. As well, I was left in the lurch one year with a bull who injured himself on the second day of the breeding season. It was far from ideal as he had to be replaced quickly.’
The pre-breeding period on Michael’s farm has been made easier because of CowControl as well. ‘I was tail painting cows during pre-breeding, but that doesn’t always show up the cows that are not cycling. These used slip under the radar and become more of a problem as time went on. Now, with CowControl I get an alert at 45 days in milk if a cow hasn’t cycled. It’s a massive time saving; I can get the cow checked and have her ready to go at the start of the breeding season. Already it’s had an impact on tightening up our calving pattern,’ adds Michael.
The accuracy of the system has impressed Michael during the breeding season. This past spring, a neighbour was inseminating Michael’s heifers, as he had a wrist injury. Michael’s neighbour said that when he handled the heifers, they were always showing a good heat, which he wasn’t experiencing at other farms he was inseminating on. Michael puts this down to the accuracy of the optimum time to breed feature. ‘This gave me great confidence because we were using sexed semen on the heifers for the first time. I don’t think I would have gambled the investment on sexed semen without having the data the system provides. It’s great reassurance.’
Another unexpected impact of Nedap CowControl has been felt on transition cow management. Michael noticed that some cows were showing decreased eating and rumination when they were turned out to grass after calving. The data from CowControl caused him to change his transition management.
‘I noticed that some fresh cows were ruminating and eating as normal before they calved, but once they calved and were turned out, it dropped dramatically. Now, I make sure they have access to silage before turning out, to help with fibre levels in the rumen before they access the lush spring grass. Its helped keep their rumination more balanced,’ says Michael. ‘It caused me to change grazing management in early spring too. On wet days I’d see rumination drop, or of they were on very lush grass. I’d then make sure the herd had access to hay or straw to increase fibre in their diet.’
When asked what his advice would be to other farmers who are considering this technology, his answer is clear. ‘Go and put it in,’ he says with a laugh. ‘I installed it in October 2020, and it gave the system time to calibrate and build up a picture of each cow’s data long before calving started. We hit the ground running in the spring then,’ continues Michael. ‘I’ve found the dealer’s team incredibly helpful, with excellent back up. They’re totally farmer orientated, and I feel like I’m dealing with people who understand what I’m talking about. I had seen first-hand on a cousin’s farm the benefits of the system, and it’s great that it’s backed up with excellent service. That, and the long battery life is what convinced me that Nedap CowControl was the right system to install.’
