Livestock Monitoring Collars – Any Practical Issues?

[Claudiobri]

Hi everyone, I'm a young dairy farmer managing around 400 cows near Turin, Italy. I'm currently considering implementing livestock monitoring technologies (ear tags, collars, etc.) to track my herd's health, reproduction, and behavior.

Does anyone have firsthand experience with these devices? I'd particularly like to understand any limitations or practical issues you've encountered during daily use.

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Claudio

 

[S_W]

Ear tags are great to have because it helps identify which cow is which, that you own them, who is their dam, and how old they are. However, they can get ripped out if the cow is scratching itself on barb wire, but that's really rare. I highly recommend ear tags.

I don't have much experience with collars. (I don't own dairy cows) However, if your cows are kept where there isn't anything for the collars to snag on, they should be fine. Where I'm from, dairy cows are mostly kept in barns and go out to pasture during the day. (I wouldn't have cows wearing collars around any trees)

I don't know maybe get a few of the cows collars and see if they are worth getting for your whole herd. Like 50-100 cows.

Hope this helps!