If you are getting alerts but there appears to be little progress with calving it may indicate the cow is in difficulty.
Here are some situations we have found to be the cause of early alerts or false positives:
Calf dies or smothers within a cow before birth (very hard to diagnose beforehand)
Heifers carrying embryo calves, where the calf is usually too big to be born naturally
Calf not being presented properly in the birth canal ie. twisted calf bed, leg back, head down, coming backwards etc.
C-sections will usually trigger an alarm before the actual calving again due to the size of calf
A cow's cervix might not open fully to allow passage for a new born calf (common problem)
A cow suffering prolapse before calving or in other words pushing her calving bed out (common in older cows)
Mineral deficiency where the cow has no energy to push the calf out. (Selenium, Calcium etc.)
A cow displays all the symptoms of calving and then stops and in the next day or so calves herself.
An active calf that is moving and kicking a lot before birth can irritate a cow giving an early alert
Please contact us on one of the telephone numbers below should you have any further questions on this:
