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Australian Foal Alarm Breakthrough

A LATROBE Valley family business has launched a cutting edge foal alarm that can dial out to mobile or other telephones when a mare is about to deliver

By Latrobe City - 6th February 2003 - Back to News

A Latrobe Valley family business has launched a cutting edge foal alarm that can dial out to mobile or other telephones when a mare is about to deliver.

Developed by former veterinary assistant Karen McCabe and her electrical engineer husband Ian, the alarm also features time delay technology that cuts the number of false alarms, new transmitters with battery status indicators and a transmission range of up to 350 metres.

"Foal alarms are supposed to activate when a mare lies down but most will go off if she tosses her head while scratching or rolling, which can create a lot of nuisance alarms," Karen McCabe said.

"The Ausmin alarm has a user programmable time delay of 15, 30 or 60 seconds, which means the audible alarm won’t sound until the mare has been on her side for a selected amount of time, however the receiver does visually display the signal received from the mare as soon as it is received.

"If she stays down for more than a minute but gets back up again, the alarm will reset all channels and return to the standby condition ready for the next signal."

The alarm also features four-channel transmission identification, which tells breeders exactly which mare has gone down. A repeater is also available to extend the range of the transmitter signal from 350 metres to up to 2 kilometres back to the in-house receiver.

The McCabes use the alarm at the Ausmin Stud near Yarragon, where they raise miniature horses, ponies and Shetlands.

"With miniatures the foal sometimes can’t get out of the bag, or they have legs back which can seriously injure the mare," Karen said.

"There’s only a small window of opportunity, maybe 20 minutes of delivery time. I’ve saved seven foals in two season after hearing the alarm and getting out there in time to help with difficulties."

Ausmin Foal Alarms have been selling through word of mouth for almost three years. The latest development – a mechanism that allows the alarm to call a mobile or other telephone is brand new in Australia.

The alarm is enjoying success in a variety of markets from the thoroughbred racing industry here and interstate, where a single foal can be worth $20,000-$120,000, to the miniature horse and pony industries.

Ian and Karen recently set up headquarters at the Latrobe Business Centre, which they will use as a base as they tackle the export market.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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