Mustering Cattle with a Phantom
- Thread starter clintgeaney
- Start date
I haven't had a chance to use Active Track but I'm thinking it might be useful for Mustering Livestock.
I have tried it a few times with some of our cattle,
It is a bit difficult to get adult cattle to work off the drone if they want to run the wrong way.
Its a bit like they can't see it when you get in front of them to block them. (Sometimes they will stop and other times not) It would work better with some sort of remote activated siren.
It seems they work a little better if you get them going then fly out to the side about 20-30 yards or so away, above treetop level and fly sideways, keeping your camera on them ( checking now and then to make sure there are not any high trees)
Once the cattle are going the right direction, fly up and away ( up and back) up to about 500 meters away if necessary, till the cattle settle down to a walk.
You can keep an eye on them. If they stop, fly in and down enough to get them going again.
Its pretty easy to get weaners to go the right way, just get down eye level and fly side to side or sudden up. Actually I think you could break your weeners in to the phantom so they will work with it properly.( go, stop, move off ect...)
It all depends on how quiet the cattle are and how big your paddocks are.
I use my drone to spot cattle when we muster.
Often in around 8,000-14,000 acre paddocks .As we have to walk the cattle most of the day to get them to where we need them, Its a bit of a wast of time trying to walk them with it as the battery can't last long enough to get them anywhere. But it works fine to locate them.
I REFUSE to try to start cattle going in the right direction with it ( even though its tempting ) as its easy for cattle to just run under or around it and there's nothing you can really do to stop them if they want to go the wrong way. Cattle only have to do this a couple of times then they know they can beat it.
This produces spoilt cattle.
That means later when I want to just spot where they are, if they hear it coming, they start to move off which is no good for the men/ladies on horses when they try to find them later. If I just stay around 150-200 ft and fly over cattle they don't even acknowledge it so they stay put until we can go get them on horses.
Here is a video of some weaners walking with the p3a. The video is mainly about how horses react but there were some of our poddys there so I put them in the vid as well.
These poddys had been worked with the drone a little bit on previous occasions so were not worried about it but still if I had flown to close they would have started to run.
It is a bit difficult to get adult cattle to work off the drone if they want to run the wrong way.
Its a bit like they can't see it when you get in front of them to block them. (Sometimes they will stop and other times not) It would work better with some sort of remote activated siren.
It seems they work a little better if you get them going then fly out to the side about 20-30 yards or so away, above treetop level and fly sideways, keeping your camera on them ( checking now and then to make sure there are not any high trees)
Once the cattle are going the right direction, fly up and away ( up and back) up to about 500 meters away if necessary, till the cattle settle down to a walk.
You can keep an eye on them. If they stop, fly in and down enough to get them going again.
Its pretty easy to get weaners to go the right way, just get down eye level and fly side to side or sudden up. Actually I think you could break your weeners in to the phantom so they will work with it properly.( go, stop, move off ect...)
It all depends on how quiet the cattle are and how big your paddocks are.
I use my drone to spot cattle when we muster.
Often in around 8,000-14,000 acre paddocks .As we have to walk the cattle most of the day to get them to where we need them, Its a bit of a wast of time trying to walk them with it as the battery can't last long enough to get them anywhere. But it works fine to locate them.
I REFUSE to try to start cattle going in the right direction with it ( even though its tempting ) as its easy for cattle to just run under or around it and there's nothing you can really do to stop them if they want to go the wrong way. Cattle only have to do this a couple of times then they know they can beat it.
This produces spoilt cattle.
That means later when I want to just spot where they are, if they hear it coming, they start to move off which is no good for the men/ladies on horses when they try to find them later. If I just stay around 150-200 ft and fly over cattle they don't even acknowledge it so they stay put until we can go get them on horses.
Here is a video of some weaners walking with the p3a. The video is mainly about how horses react but there were some of our poddys there so I put them in the vid as well.
These poddys had been worked with the drone a little bit on previous occasions so were not worried about it but still if I had flown to close they would have started to run.
Last edited:
I know there are videos of people using drones to herd sheep on YouTube, not sure if that will help but I thought I would mention it
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Some people in Australia have been playing with the idea.
Robot round-up: Cattle herding with drones takes off in Australia
Robot round-up: Cattle herding with drones takes off in Australia
We do herd cattle with our drones, in Nebraska and Kansas. We have a siren that we herd cattle with. And a specialized tablet which you can actually see in the sun. That doesn't cost $700+ like a Crystal Sky.
Check out our cattle management Phantom packages at bargerdrone.com. Contact me with any specific questions. My phone is 308-224-2234.
Russ Barger
Russ: I really like how you have identified checking waterholes as a use for drones. We have a large nature reserve (30,000+ acres) and it takes time to check each water source, especially in a drought when checks must be done more frequently than usual.
African wildlife
Go ahead and email directly, if you would like a quote on a package. We can talk about what you may want.
[email protected]
Thanks.
R Barger
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