An Early Warning System for Livestock Health
Since the earliest days of the livestock industry, cowboys have monitored the health condition of cattle by roaming the herds in the open range or feedlots, looking for sick cattle by identifying the visual signs of pink and watering eyes or runny noses.
Until now, this method was the only reasonable means available for finding sick animals and continues to be practiced today.
However, with today's difficult to treat diseases such as BRD (Bovine Respiratory Disease), BVD (Bovine Virus Diarrhea), Foot-and-Mouth Disease, and other known diseases that can quickly infect herds on an epidemic scale, it is now paramount to have rapid, real-time reporting of large-scale disease outbreaks, as well as a more efficient way to track the health condition of individual animals.
See the new Benefits Analysis in the Quick Links Menu
Posted to this website is a new Benefits Analysis spreadsheet that you can download to your computer. The spreadsheet allows you to perform profit projection estimates when using the TekVet Health Monitoring System at your facility.
What can TekVet do for You?
- Reduce Labor Cost
- Catch Fever in Livestock Immediately
- Treat Sick Livestock Earlier for Better Response to Treatment
- Reduce Overall Treatment Cost with Earlier Treatments
- Reduce Livestock Loss and Decrease Investment Risk
- Increase Profit Margin with Maximum Sell Weights
- Tracking and Identification information for Certified Health Information
If any of these are important to you, we highly recommend you read the following information very carefully to find out why the TekVet Health Monitoring System is about to change the world of livestock operations.
What is the TekVet Health Monitoring System™?
A major indication of an animal’s well being is its core body temperature. Many of the livestock illnesses that cause cattle loss are initially indicated by a fever in the animal. Even before an animal shows the normal visual signs of illness, such as excessive nose discharge, drooping head, lack of appetite, coughing, and wheezing, the fever is most likely already well established.
Our research indicates that about 48 hours before the major visual signs appear, the core temperature has already increased significantly. The TekVet Health Monitoring System can immediately identify a rise in temperature that is associated with many of these common illnesses, allowing the livestock operator to perform early, and more successful, treatment. The earlier an illness is treated, the more effective the treatment will be, thereby reducing livestock loss.
 A significant component of the TekVet Health Monitoring System is a small electronic tag, called the TekSensor, that permanently attaches to the ear in a manner similar to any other dangle ear tag.
However, unlike every other ear tag, this device consists of a small thermistor (or electronic thermometer) that fits just inside the animal’s ear canal, adjacent to the tympanic membrane. The TekSensor ear tag measures the external ear canal temperature which is an excellent indication of core body temperature as previous research from Kentucky has proven.
Another part of the TekSensor tag is a very small radio transmitter that communicates information to solar-power receivers strategically placed throughout a livestock facility. These receivers are connected to our network where temperature readings are collected approximately every hour, 24 hours a day.
The real-time data from these readings is immediately made available to you through the TekAccess software that is available via an internet url address provided to you. The TekAccess software is both easy to use and very powerful, allowing you to monitor the health and identification of each animal in your herd quickly and conveniently.
Is the TekVet Health Monitoring System NAIS?
Yes, it is. Each electronic tag has a one-time-use NAIS standard animal identification number (AIN). The electronic tag also has a matching visual dangle tag, enabling easy identification of animals in the field if necessary. One major advantage to the TekVet Health Monitoring System is that the identification numbers can be read from the cattle pens without directing the animals past frustrating pinch point passive RFID readers.
Is the TekVet System expensive?
No, surprisingly it is not expensive at all. In fact the Tekvet System™ actually makes you money by increasing your profit margin. It does this by:
- Reducing morbidity and death loss
- Selling for higher prices due to full trace back and health history
- Reducing labor costs by pin-pointing sick animals immediately.
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