Growing Beef Newsletter
March 2025, Volume 15, Issue 9
Cameras in the calving lot and barn: tools and toys
Tony Mensing, ISU extension ag engineering specialist
The management styles cow-calf producers use when it comes to calving in Iowa vary dramatically, but the goal of having live, healthy calves is universal. Advances in technology over the years have certainly added new “tools” available to producers for breeding season, but the other end of pregnancy: labor, delivery, and routine newborn care is essentially the same as it has been for a long time.
There might be somewhat novel neonatal protocols and a wider variety of purpose-made heater boxes that can be used instead of the floorboard of the farm truck for warming chilled calves, but at the core, not a lot has changed. Security and monitoring camera systems aren’t new at this point either, but the digital world we live in has certainly made them more widely accessible. That ease of access is really the catalyst that has provided the potential for camera systems to become a potentially useful tool for managers working towards that goal of having live, healthy calves. In addition to their practical use, cameras might even be a fun toy during what can be a stressful calving season. Watching natural cow behavior can be entertaining!
Calving cameras obviously aren’t for everyone. They’re likely a more useful tool for those management systems where producers are generally more actively involved in calving as compared with those closer to a back-80, self-sustaining, completely hands-off, warm weather calving system. Some operations may have a hybrid of both systems; for example, cameras might be great for early calving of heifers in a close-up lot and barn setting, but not as useful for later wide-open pasture calving of cows.
No matter the management system being used, the potential entertainment value of watching cows on camera for fun is high, at least until you see them displaying some of their less desirable cow characteristics like trying to destroy something as they seem to do from time to time.
Camera systems can be very useful when used to facilitate more convenient and more frequent observation of cattle leading up to, during and after labor and delivery. For example, if the management plan is to hold a larger group of close-ups and then cycle the active calvers through a labor and delivery facility, cameras could allow more and possibly better observation of the large group to identify those beginning the active calving process.
Part of the potential for better observation comes from the ability to watch without disturbing the cow’s natural behaviors. You may be able to identify early signs of impending calving that the critter may try to hide if she saw a human walking the lot. It is also fairly safe to say it’s easier to do more frequent checks when they can be done from the warm comfort of home rather than having to suit up in appropriate gear to venture out in the cold for multiple overnight checks. There is also potential peace of mind to be gained from seeing a newborn calf get up and suckle rather than trying to identify positive signs that the nursing process went well after the fact.
Like other tools, cameras can be used and integrated into the management system, but it isn’t realistic to expect them to solve every problem, and they may even create a few new or different problems of their own. The ideal situation would be that the benefit gained is worth the extra effort, but, nonetheless, having more information means more decisions need to be made, even if some of them are passively concluding that nothing needs to be done right then.
Sometimes having a little more information may lead to more questions or concerns than if you knew less. For example, monitoring the whole calving process on camera and seeing hooves but not being able to identify them as fronts or backs could be stressful, whereas not having a camera and not monitoring every step of the process may have completely avoided that worry from the beginning.
There also are physical costs to install and maintain a camera system in addition to time and effort required to get to the point of being able to utilize it. The physical costs of a single-camera system utilizing an existing network may be less than one hundred dollars, but it is possible to spend thousands on a more elaborate setup. The variables in a cost-benefit analysis would require several assumptions and are hard to pinpoint exactly, which means lots of personal bias becomes involved in evaluating the potential impact of a camera system.
The good or bad news is that there are lots of options when it comes to cameras and systems. There is a wide range of physical equipment options as well as setup and servicing options. This range is at least as wide as from being able to scratch build a custom kit of your own sourcing, installing, and setting up individual components yourself all the way to having a service provider do everything short of watching the videos for you throughout calving. Some more middle-of-the-road options would be sourcing a kit from a supplier that may potentially offer remote setup assistance after the physical components are installed or purchasing and installing one of the several readily available camera systems marketed for home monitoring.
Individual goals and circumstances should be considered when evaluating system options. For example, if the goal is for multiple people to be able to monitor cameras from anywhere a smartphone can be on a data network, then an internet connection will need to be available within a reasonable distance of the camera system. That internet connection could be in the barn where the cameras are or with the right supporting equipment, even a couple of miles away by line of sight. Alternatively, if the only goal is to be able to view the cameras from an office or home right next to the calving facility an internet connection may not even be required. In circumstances where a reliable internet connection is not available, a line-of-sight antenna system or physical hardwired cable system would avoid the potential for a bad internet connection disabling camera viewing altogether.
Early morning camera image of cows before calving.
Some other system options include a hard drive recording device, remotely movable cameras, and night vision, among others. Hard drive recording can maintain some stored video automatically so it can be played back later. This could be helpful if a cow is seen in the calving process, but you want to know how long she has been working to help you determine when to intervene.
There is a plethora of actual camera options including various field of view widths, zoom levels, infrared night vision, and even remotely movable cameras that allow a user to pan side to side, tilt up and down, as well as zoom in and out on the image. It can be a great option to be able to adjust the camera, but there are more moving parts in those and it’s possible that a view from a different vantage point via a second fixed view camara could be more useful. Nighttime checks can be a popular draw for people evaluating camera systems, but it is worth noting that, in general, the built-in infrared systems for night viewing have limitations, and some supplemental light from yard lights or something similar may make the system much more functional for that purpose. Systems often have a maximum amount of camera inputs, so if the long-term plan would be to have the ability to use 12 cameras it would make sense to purchase components that are set up for 16 cameras rather than 8 if those are the options.
Camera systems for calving management won’t necessarily fit every operation and management style but they are one of relatively few new widely available, relatively low-cost tools that may be able to provide a positive impact to both the productivity of the herd as well as the producer’s stress and overall wellness. Keep in mind operational objectives when evaluating system options to work towards the best value return on cost and effort, and don’t discount the fun factor of having your own personal animal channel!
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