Fitting and handling
How-to Fit Neckbands to Animals
⚠️ Please note, when you first put a neckband on an animal, the animal will buck and jump around attempting to get rid of the device around its neck! This excited behaviour typically only lasts 20 - 30 seconds before the animal calms down. Please be prepared for this and ensure you are taking adequate safety precautions for yourself and the animals. ⚠️ In this three-part video series, you’ll learn how to: Prepare neckbands for fitting on animals Fit the neckbands correctly around eachPopularHow-to Ensure a Proper Neckband Fit
To ensure optimal comfort and wellbeing for your cattle, it’s important to fit and maintain neckbands correctly. With any animal wearable, proper fitment and attention to environmental factors help prevent discomfort and skin issues. General Fitting Guidelines Each neckband should be fitted firmly enough to prevent swinging, but loose enough to avoid constriction and allow for future growth. Fit Check: Once fitted on the neck of an animal, gently lift the neckband upward using tSome readersHow-to Undo the Locking Clip and Buckles
Whilst the locking clips in the top strap buckles are very effective at keeping the neckbands securely on animals, they can be a challenge to undo when you need to adjust or remove a neckband. When you do need to adjust or remove the neckband, you may find it difficult to remove the locking clip, especially when you are doing this for the first few times. (After a few insertions and rSome readersHow-to Turn Neckbands On and Off
Turning your neckbands on and off is done with a magnet key. Here's how to do both, and what the LED colours mean. Turning a neckband on Find the LED window on one of the flat sides of the neckband. Hold your magnet key on the orange strip next to the LED window. As soon as you hear the rising tone melody, take the magnet away. The LED will start blinking. The colour tells you what's happening. Tip: if one magnet key doesn't do it, try holding two against the neckband at thPopularCharging Neckbands
Once you receive your Neckbands, please unpack and get them exposed to direct sunlight to charge the battery before taking any further steps. We have to ship the neckbands with only a small amount of charge (due to freight regulations) so they need several days of good sunshine to get them to an operational level. Please note: The neckbands take up to a week of sunny days to fully charge, or longer during periods with limited sunlight, such as winter. Avoid any obstructions neFew readers
Pairing to animals
Neckband Association Using the eShepherd Mobile App
⚠️ NOTE - This feature is still in development and may not work properly for your particular combination of products (including mobile phone type, software version and setup.) Neckband Association What You’ll Need (prep): Mobile phone with eShepherd Mobile installed and logged in. Charged neckbands and animals physically ready. Cow visual ID (VID) tags visible/readable. Stable cell or Wi-Fi connection for uploading (recommended). Notebook or digiSome readersUsing the HR0 with an iPhone to pair Neckbands to Animals
eShepherd - Connecting the HR0 to iPhoneFew readersHow-to Scan a Neckband with a Handheld Reader
The eShepherd Neckband can be associated with an animals EID tag or Visual tag. This can be done using the eShepherd Mobile App on a phone and then paring the phone to the handheld reader. (Currently, only the Gallagher HR4 or HR5 handheld reader can be paired with the Mobile App.) Note that you can use any handheld reader to scan & read the animals EDI tag and the Neckbands RFID tag.  and to send a status update (such as their current location, and a bunch of other operational parameters). The frequency at which this regular communication occurs is set by the eShepherd Team in consultation with each customer. The minimum recommended communication cadence is once every 15 minutes. Depending on your operation, increasing theFew readersPanic Protection
The eShepherd neckband includes a built-in Panic Protection feature that automatically suspends all virtual fence stimulus if an animal enters a distressed or panicked state. This ensures that animals are never subjected to audio cues or electrical pulses while running or fleeing. How It Works The neckband continuously monitors animal movement using its built-in accelerometer. If the neckband detects that an animal is moving at a speed consistent with a panic or flight response,Few readersEmergency Timeout
Each eShepherd virtual fencing neckband includes an Emergency Timeout feature designed to keep your animals safe and your system predictable in the event of a communication loss between the neckband and the cloud platform. During normal operation, the neckband regularly exchanges data with the web-enabled platform. If this communication is interrupted, i.e., due to a cellular network outage, the neckband begins tracking how long it has been since it last heard from the platform. IfFew readersProlonged Communication Outage
In some cases, communication between the virtual fencing neckbands and the cloud platform can be interrupted for an extended period. This can happen due to cellular network outages, LoRa Base Station failures, or other connectivity issues in the local area. When communication is lost, the neckbands will continue to enforce the existing virtual fence until the configured Emergency Timeout expires (default: 24 hours). During this time, the neckbands operate autonomously but **cannFew readers
Seasonal care and faults
Hibernating Neckbands Over Winter
If you are removing your Neckbands from your animals over winter, then please read on for our recommendations on how to store them so that they are ready to spring back into action, in Spring! Ideally, you want your neckband batteries to have a good amount of charge before hibernating them. The reason for this is because even in the hibernation state, the neckbands do use a very small amount of battery power, so over the course of a few months, they will lose some of their charge. **PrerequiFew readersWinter Grazing
Mud Buildup on Neckbands During Winter Grazing When grazing cattle on winter crops such as Kale or Fodder Beet, virtual fencing neckbands can become heavily soiled with mud. This is because the device hangs beneath the animal’s neck and can come into frequent contact with wet soil, mud, and crop residue - especially in low-growing crops. Excessive mud buildup on the solar panels can block sunlight and prevent effective charging, leading to devices running low on powerFew readersNeckbands that Stop Working
This article covers what to do if one of your Neckbands stops working. Problem Let's start with the scenario where a neckband is fitted to an animal that was actively being contained in a virtual paddock and it suddenly stops working. The first indications that this has happened is that the 'last updated' time is now a long time ago - this could be many hours, days or even weeks. If the communication delay is still less than one or two days, there is a possibility that the Neckband mFew readers