does anyone use a baby monitor in their barn during kidding season? Seriously thinking about getting one .....looking for recommendations .....my barn is about 80 ft from the house. will they reach that far?
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My barn is about 200 ft from my house, and I bought a baby monitor at Target that actually works pretty well. I used to leave it on only during kidding season, but I found like I like the sound of hearing them breathing softly and chewing their cud during the night, so now I leave it on all the time. I also have Logitech Alert video cameras, so when I hear any suspicious noise on the baby monitor, I can just check the Logitech video on my iPhone. My baby monitor has a two-way function that allows me to talk to them, but the one time I did that, they were completely freaked out by it and didn't settle down for a very long time, so I never did that again.
Our barn is 480 feet from the house. I have a vtech monitor that works great. So glad I have it as our doe kidded at 3 a.m. yesterday and it was 15 degrees out. She didn't even bleat loudly in labor, but I woke up to hear her talking to her first kid and it answering. The monitor seems really sensitive. The barn has metal siding and I guess that's why we have to place the monitor strategically to get reception, but when it links up it's amazing what we can hear.
Thanks so much Rachel & Julia! I lost one baby to hypothermia 2 wks ago and I just keep thinking if I had just heard something 30 minutes earlier things mite have gone better. ive got one doe that shud be kidding very soon (she seems to prefer sundays for some reason lol) and ive been going down to the barn every hour for the last 2 nites. I think the monitor would be a big help.
My barn is right about 80 feet too and it works perfectly! Mine is a First Years which is inexpensive and I'm amazed at how well it works! You can literally hear them stand up to drop poo-pellets if they are not on the soft straw. When I first got it (last kidding season) I had no idea they are quiet as mice all night as soon as it gets dark. Then I hear them right as the sun comes up getting up to stretch (and poop lol!). I highly recommend getting one for kidding season!
Mine reaches that far. You just have to look for a long range one. I can't think off the top of my head what one I have. If I had the money, I'd spring for the one with video, though.