Techno-Cowgirl: iCalve app review

Hi, my name is Jill, and I'm an app-aholic!  Yes, I have so many apps on my iPhone that I can't do the latest update without temporarily deleting some.  My apps vary from photography (another hobby of mine), to games to keep the kids occupied if needed, to a great calving/herd management app.  This great app that I'm talking about is called iCalve created by an Alberta cattleman for cattlemen.

Main page of app

I began using it before calving season arrived, and instantly fell in love with it.  First off, I always have my phone on me, so being able to store my cattle records there is valuable.  The data entry is easy, as the dates pop up as "today's date" and the animal types are just a simple swipe to change.  The only challenge I found was entering the same animal for different treatment dates under the Doctor Records, but I just added dashes or spaces in the tag number to "trick" the program.

This winter, I was able to keep track of all our doctor records in one easy spot, which is crucial for Verified Beef Producers.

Doctor record for mass treatment of heifers

This winter we also culled (or sold) a cow, because she was old and not bred (pregnant).  In the iCalve app, there is a place to store this information too.

Cull cow entry

There is also a place to record any dead animals that you might have, along with the reason for dying.  I find this very crucial when we were dealing with a small outbreak of pneumonia in our herd, and tracking who had died from pneumonia.

Death loss entry

Now that calving has arrived, it's easy to input all the data into the app after the calves are born.

Individual calf entry

Summary of calving page

There is also a gestation calendar to figure out when your cows are going to calve after they have been turned in with the bull.  As well as a whole page dedicated to herd data to fill out for the year.

I feel that the iCalve app is well worth the $9.99 I paid for it on iTunes.  In addition to never having a wet, muddy, lost calving book and cow records, all of my data is backed up to Dropbox in an easy to read pdf.  Its great for all the Techo-Cowgirls and Cowboys and simple enough for those who don't consider themselves to be one.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, although I had prior approval from the creator of iCalve to write this post.  The views expressed are my own.