It’s calving season… and for as much as I like the excitement and potential in each new born calf, I could never get excited about checking on the cows in the middle of the night. (and to be fair, I’ve only had to do that a small percentage of the time compared to others in the family) There is something about crawling out of a warm bed on a cold late winter night to get dressed and stumble across the yard through the snow in the dark to the barn to find a cow chewing her cud that wreaks havoc on a good nights sleep. Best case scenario… you could be back in bed while the sheets were still warm. Worst case… you stumble across some critter – racoon, opossum, or better yet, skunk – almost under foot the moment you flip the barn light on. If you weren’t wide awake from a cutting wind chill, those surprised little beady eyes will get your heart rate going for the next 45 minutes.

Once I moved out of my parent’s place- where these middle of the night excursions take place – I was eager to get them set up with WiFi cameras in the barn after seeing how well it was working for a few other people. The fact that it would save me 20 minutes in the car in the middle of the night if I ever had to check some night was also a win.

Now, instead of having to get out of bed to check on a cow in the middle of the night, who ever is checking just opens an app on a tablet or smartphone, flips from camera to camera, and – if there’s nothing going on – goes back to sleep. All without having to get out of bed. As long as you have the login information, you can check in from anywhere – preferably somewhere without surprised critters.