James Sheahan Catholic High School has welcomed new calves to its agricultural program after the calving cattle were placed under 24 hour surveillance.
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New technology called Moo Call was used to monitor the progress of a cow’s labour and send emails and text messages with regular updates to staff and students, including school principal Mark Pauschmann.
The students and staff were able to follow the birth of a calf from the start of labour to delivery.
Developed in Ireland, the device is attached to the cow’s tail and measures movements and contractions during labour, which typically occur late at night or early morning when no-one is physically present at the school.
Agriculture teacher Sarah Eyb said it was a relief to know teachers can go home without worrying that an animal is unattended.
“Unlike commercial operators, we are not living on site and so monitoring calving animals is always a concern,” Mrs Eyb said.
“But the Moocall sent a text and email informing us the cow had experienced high periods of activity for one and then two hours, and by the time we had arrived at school, a lovely new heifer calf had been born.
“The rapid evolution of agricultural technology and its promotion within our school means all students can get real time updates about the cows progress and track this on their iPads.”
The Moo Call’s inventors also called to check on how the sensor was performing under Australian conditions.
