Hardware disease

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I've been doing a little metalwork around my new shop and I lost a duck a few days ago to what I think was hardware. I try to be very careful about anything I drop or grind, but sometimes the grass or gravel just swallow stuff. So I bought one of those magnets contractors use for picking up nails after a job and this is what I got in an eight by fifteen area. The sharp spikes are about 2 inches long for reference, and you can see all the wire bristles from a wire wheel I use on rust.

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Back when ostriches make their appearance as the farming pyramid scheme of the 1980s-90s, I saw a lot of zinc toxicosis in birds that were fenced in with hot-dip galvanized chain-link fencing. Those big dumb birds would peck away the 'drops' of galvanized material that hardened, mostly on the edges of the wire - and we'd find lots and lots of the little zinc splatters/pops in their gizzard. Somewhere around here I have a black walnut that I removed from an ostrich gizzard at necropsy... all the outer ridges are worn off - it's totally smooth.
 
Back when ostriches make their appearance as the farming pyramid scheme of the 1980s-90s, I saw a lot of zinc toxicosis in birds that were fenced in with hot-dip galvanized chain-link fencing. Those big dumb birds would peck away the 'drops' of galvanized material that hardened, mostly on the edges of the wire - and we'd find lots and lots of the little zinc splatters/pops in their gizzard. Somewhere around here I have a black walnut that I removed from an ostrich gizzard at necropsy... all the outer ridges are worn off - it's totally smooth.
i have always had cattle but, in the early 70's i also raised turkeys for about 12 years. had open sheds with the back closed. was quite a cacophony when the sun came up and the turkey were pecking on the sheet iron sides wherever a nail hole let the sunlight shine in. they would peck at anything or chase after what one turkey had for a treat. they would eat anything that they thought was shiny. several would eat something that ruptured their crop(craw). it would swell until the turkey died. sometimes i would catch the turkey and have a little surgery. open the crop, clean, disinfect, and suture. worked sometimes, but with 45-50,000 per crop time was too limited to continue.

and the hardware. there is no longer anyone to confirm this with, but i heard of a hardware problem about 100 miles from my location. this person had a completely open range for laying turkeys. open range just means they fenced off a pasture area and turned them out. when it came time to market the older hens many were being condemned at slaughter. their crop contained brass casings. once again i can not verify, but was told the pasture had been formerly used as a psuedo shooting range for the military. the brass was 30.06 and 30 carbine casings.
 

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