Magnet question

[tnwalkingred]

All,

I had a calf die a couple of weeks ago and after the autopsy the vet determined she died from hardware disease with something puncturing her colon. I've been very weary ever since and keeping a close eye on all my other cattle. When I went out to feed tonight I noticed one of the heifers did not eat. She seemed to be feeling ok and was actually putting her head in the trough and butting the others while they ate. She seems full of energy but it's not like her not to eat. She ate yesterday so whatever has happened has just come about. I'll feed again in the morning but if she doesn't eat I was thinking about putting a magnet in her. Any thoughts on this? Should I wait a couple more days? Maybe take her temp and see if she's possibly got an infection instead? Is there any reason not to put a magnet in her? Any thoughts are appreciated.

KW

 

[snake67]

You can put a magnet in any time you please - I have seen some folks do it on all their cattle - mind you they only kept a few

Not going to hurt - especially if it helps you sleep better

But .... be aware - magnets do not always stop hardware

Best cure for hardware is clean pastures and pens

Cheers

Bez

 

[tnwalkingred]

Thanks Bez. I think my pastures are clean but obviously the one heifer got some metal from somewhere. I've been told about a huge magnet that mounts to the back of a tractor that you can get and drag around your pastures. I may look into this. If nothing else it might show me exactly how clean my pastures are or are not. I think I'll see how she is in the morning and if she still doesn't eat, give her a magnet. She's by far the best heifer I have and I would hate to to lose her.

 

[snake67]

Just remember, that magnet will be expensive to rent and will not guarantee anything.

Lots of animals die with aluminum or glass in their gut as well. No magnet will stop that.

Most likely culprit is a fence staple in my mind - they get pulled or come out for more reasons than you and I could ever come up with together.

Be that as it may - best of luck to you and your heifer - but never forget - stock is born to die - some just do it earlier than we would like.

My best

Bez

 

[Aaron]

Magnet it about the cheapest treatment you can give right off the bat.

 

[inyati13]

Three years ago, I cleared my farm with a D3G Cat dozer. That involved taking out old fences. I was careful but I see pieces of fence wire in the grass. I ask the vet about putting magnets in my cows. He said he does not see enough of it from field metal to get excited. He said bad cases of hardware disease that he has experienced were due to metal getting into hay or feed. He said if it gives you piece of mind, it will not hurt, buy magnets and put one in each cow whenever you have her in the chute.

I bought a pack of six and the gun for putting them in. I guess his lack of enthusiasm has casued me to procrastinate. I have not put in a single one!!!

 

[dun]

Three years ago, I cleared my farm with a D3G Cat dozer. That involved taking out old fences. I was careful but I see pieces of fence wire in the grass. I ask the vet about putting magnets in my cows. He said he does not see enough of it from field metal to get excited. He said bad cases of hardware disease that he has experienced were due to metal getting into hay or feed. He said if it gives you piece of mind, it will not hurt, buy magnets and put one in each cow whenever you have her in the chute.

I bought a pack of six and the gun for putting them in. I guess his lack of enthusiasm has casued me to procrastinate. I have not put in a single one!!!

When we fed hay that was put up with wire rather then twine we put a magnet in everything. When we butchered we took the magnet and cleaned it up to reuse in another one. I liked the solid stainless ones that were a couple of inches long and the diameter of my little finger. The cheap ones that were segmented would usually be corroded into pieces within a year or so.

 

[tnwalkingred]

I have some of the stainless magnets like Dun is talking about. I bought some when the other calf died but haven't had to use one yet. The good news is the heifer was eating hay this morning and seemed to be feeling fine. I got called into work early so I'll feed tonight. Hopefully she's back to her normal pigish shelf!

KW

 

[dun]

Being of a semi warped mind I always liked to look at the magnets when we got them out just to see the kind of crap that had accumulated on them. Cheap entertainment

 

[inyati13]

Being of a semi warped mind I always liked to look at the magnets when we got them out just to see the kind of crap that had accumulated on them. Cheap entertainment

Dun, what have you seen on those magnets. My brother worked were they processed dead cows that could not go into the human food chain. He said the magnets they recovered had nails and wire mostly.

 

[boondocks]

Sorry for the newbie question, but how do you pass it down, and how does it work? I take it it just stays there, gathering whatever it can, but does a magnet itself ever cause a problem? Many thanks.

 

[dun]

Being of a semi warped mind I always liked to look at the magnets when we got them out just to see the kind of crap that had accumulated on them. Cheap entertainment

Dun, what have you seen on those magnets. My brother worked were they processed dead cows that could not go into the human food chain. He said the magnets they recovered had nails and wire mostly.

We found mostly baling wire and an occasion nail or screw

 

[dun]

Sorry for the newbie question, but how do you pass it down, and how does it work? I take it it just stays there, gathering whatever it can, but does a magnet itself ever cause a problem? Many thanks.

Tha magnet is rounded so there are so sharp edges/corners. I would think that if a particularly long piece of wire got stuck to it that the wire could cause a problem, but the magnet itself doesn;t. You use a non-ferous balling gun and poke it down their throat and it goes into the first stomach and stays there. As metal (ferrous) is swallowed it gets stuck to the magnet rather then pass through the rest of the digestive tract.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Ron
I saw a lot of magnets after harvest. Nasty things! Working on a dairy for so many years, I can see why they got that way. We used a feed mixer, so we would grind up the hay and add all the ingredients (citrus, SBM, cottonseed, all kinds)! We mostly saw screws, bolts, washers, and small pieces of wire. The big alfalfa bales were bound with wire. It was definitely a necessity in the dairy industry! When we got new heifers in, we would check them for a magnet and if we could not find one (using a compass), we would put one in. We used the big ones, and you could buy used ones from the local processing facility that were collected from killed cows.

 

[Kingfisher]

Yea I've been thinking of installing magnets in my heifers. Seems like when it does rain here lots of junk comes to the surface. I cleaned up a bucket of glass last week and from what I saw today looks like I've got another one to pick up. Big feed store in goat country looked at me like I was on crack last year when I asked if they had any magnets for sale...;(

 

[hillsdown]

When we had the dairy all the replacement heifers and anyone new into our milk group were given a magnet . I think if you do feed a TMR you definitely increase your chances of hardware disease. That being said I had my very first case here with my beef cows and she was on pasture at the time. Extremely lucky to have caught her in time , after the magnet, a lot of meds and tons TLC I managed to pull her through even though she had complications of pneumonia from it , but I did lose her 6 month old fetus unfortunately .