Merck Animal Health has expanded the capabilities of its SenseHub Dairy monitoring technology in the United States, enabling dairy operations to monitor bucket-fed, preweaned calves alongside bottle-fed animals. The company has also introduced SenseHub Insights, a herd management dashboard designed to help dairy owners and managers identify broader performance trends and make data-driven management decisions.
The developments expand the use of automated monitoring technology across different calf-rearing systems and provide dairy producers with additional tools for animal health and herd management.
SenseHub Dairy Youngstock Adds Bucket-Fed Calves
SenseHub Dairy Youngstock was initially introduced in 2024 for monitoring bottle-fed calves. The technology now supports bucket-fed, preweaned calves, allowing producers to monitor animals regardless of the liquid feeding system used on the farm.
The system provides 24/7 behavioral monitoring for calves housed individually in hutches or in groups. The expanded capability uses the same software, ear tags and LED light feature already used for bottle-fed calves. According to Merck Animal Health, producers do not need a software update or additional activation steps to monitor bucket-fed calves.
The technology is designed to help producers and veterinarians identify calves that may require attention because of potential health issues. By providing continuous behavioral information, automated monitoring can complement conventional visual observation and help farms focus labor and resources on animals requiring intervention.
Reported Reduction in Calf Mortality
Merck Animal Health cited research in which the use of SenseHub Dairy Youngstock technology was associated with a 63% reduction in mortality compared with a control group monitored through visual observation.
The monitored group recorded nearly two fewer deaths per 100 calves. The study also estimated approximately $6,000 in replacement-cost savings per 100 calves based on March 2026 replacement heifer prices.
In addition, the research reported 56 minutes of labor saved per day by eliminating the need to visually observe 140 calves.
Calf health can have long-term implications for dairy operations. The company cited research showing that calves diagnosed with bovine respiratory disease can experience a reduction of 267 pounds in first-lactation milk production. The report also noted that heifer replacement costs average approximately $3,000 per animal.
New Herd-Level Management Dashboard
Alongside the youngstock monitoring expansion, Merck Animal Health has introduced SenseHub Insights, a web-based dashboard designed to help producers move from individual-animal monitoring to herd-level performance management.
The dashboard connects with existing SenseHub Dairy data and automatically analyzes trends in selected key performance indicators. This is intended to reduce the need for producers to manually review historical data and make it easier to identify changes in herd performance.
SenseHub Insights provides monitoring views covering several areas of dairy management, including:
| Herd Performance Area | Monitoring Focus |
|---|---|
| Fresh cow health | Health trends following calving |
| Fresh cow rumination | Changes in rumination patterns |
| Fresh cow disease risk | Indicators associated with disease risk |
| Herd heat stress | Heat-related herd trends |
| Milking routine consistency | Consistency of milking processes |
| Lock-up time consistency | Changes in herd lock-up patterns |
These indicators can help dairy managers track operational consistency and identify changes that may require further investigation or management action.
Dashboard Available to SenseHub Dairy Users
SenseHub Insights is available to SenseHub Dairy users at no additional cost, according to Merck Animal Health. The company also allows producers to share dashboard information with trusted consultants, including veterinarians and nutritionists.
The ability to share herd-level information can support collaboration between farm teams and external advisers when evaluating animal health, nutrition and management practices.
Merck Animal Health said its SenseHub solutions are supported by customer success and technical service teams that assist producers with implementation, questions and troubleshooting.
The expanded SenseHub Dairy Youngstock capability and SenseHub Insights dashboard represent further integration of automated animal monitoring and data analysis into dairy management. By combining individual calf behavior monitoring with herd-level performance information, the technology provides dairy operations with additional data that can be used alongside established health and management practices.
