Magnets

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Kerry

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I have to insert a magnet into my 2 1/2 month old bull and I just want to make sure I know what I am doing before I actually do it (the poor little guy). Do I just pry open his mouth, put it in there and rub his throat until it goes down?
Thanks for all the help you guys have given me recently.
 
You need a non-ferrous balling gun. The ones with a flexible plastic head seem to work the best for magnets. If you've never done it, I would suggest you get some one with exerience to show you the first time. It's not a big deal, but like tubing a calf seeing it done will make it a lot easier then just having someone explain it.
But if you've administred boluses it's no big deal and it's done exactly the same.

dun
 
thanks, Dun
I am very new at this (as you can probably tell) and thank goodness I checked before trying it. I will probably wait until December when I have my vet come out to check everyone out and have him do it for me; that way I am sure not do harm the little guy.
 
Kerry":1iswwi1r said:
thanks, Dun
I am very new at this (as you can probably tell) and thank goodness I checked before trying it. I will probably wait until December when I have my vet come out to check everyone out and have him do it for me; that way I am sure not do harm the little guy.

You probably wouldn't hurt him, but it can get awfully frustrating and hard on the fingers if you're not equipped

dun
 
MM":2kmtq9gh said:
what is that done for?

The magnet attracts and more or less imobolizes metal that may be injested. Prevents/treats "Hardware Disease"

dun
 
I'm surprised you're giving a magnet to such a young calf, is there a specific reason, or are you just doing it for prevention?
 
Maybe it should be self explanitory, but what is "hardware disease"? How do you know that they've injested metal? Is it just prevenative?
 
MM":2vqnglgw said:
Maybe it should be self explanitory, but what is "hardware disease"? How do you know that they've injested metal? Is it just prevenative?

Normally it's a preventative. With hardware disease, also refered to as "wired" there are a bunch of different symptoms depending on where the wire is poking. Humped up, grunts when walking, weak, maybe blood in the feces, etc. The only way to know for sure is to examine the intestines. I suppose you could do that with a BIG x-ray or something. I've heard of using as metal detector, seems like it would have to be an awfully big piece of metal for that to work. When we fed wire tied hay we dropped a magnet in everything. If we butchered something, we cut the magney ouy and reused it. The newer magnets are laminates of iron and plastic disks and about the size of half of a cigar. The ones we used/use are smaller in diameter and solid stainless steel.

dun
 
A couple of years ago we had an older cow that came down with a suspected case of hardware. She was a cross between a Hereford and a Simmental. She was a large girl and at times was known to have attitude.

So, we rounded her up and put her in the squeeze to feed her the magnet.

My neighbour Andy - he's been around cows since "Christ was a cowboy" - was helping me.

She was a little tough to handle in the squeeze so I put my trusty rope around her horns so she couldn't swipe anyone with them while she "resisted" the procedure.

While she was unable to move her head from side to side, she was able to move it up and down.

Me being the bigger and stronger of the two legged animals trying to help this old witch - I decided to put my shoulder under her chin in order to straighten out her wind pipe and make it easier for Andy to insert the balling gun.

I get this girl stretched out and ... well, she's a bit upset with us. So Andy gets the gun way down inside her throat and ... well, Andy is somewhat vertically challenged and I am a bit over six feet. So he has to really reach for the plunger to set the magnet free on it's road to a new home.

Well, he can't quite reach the plunger with his thumb while he is holding it with his hand. So, he takes a little jump and hits the plunger with his other hand.

Pop! He knocked the whole thing - gun and magnet down her throat! This gun is a real nice and far too expensive piece of equipment to see go down into the stomach of an animal I am rapidly beginning to dislike.

The look on his face was priceless! Pure horror.

Be that as it may, I kept her stretched out while we discussed how we were going to retrieve the darned thing. Shoot her and butcher her? Nope she's got a decent calf in the field and I am finished with pail bunting.

Can we reach it? Andy goes and gets the step ladder. Maybe it's only down inside her mouth a bit. All this time he is apologizing profusely and swearing he has never done something this stupid before.

Ever try to force a cows mouth open so you can see down her throat? I'd appreciate you letting me know how it went if you tried it sometime and were successful.

The old girl is now making my life somewhat difficult because the knots I tied were not intended to last forever - just a couple of seconds - and she is starting to get a bit of sideways motion going.

Now Andy is starting to feel her throat to see if it has gone all the way down - that way I can at least let her head down. This was a metal gun and I was afraid she would damage her throat if it was part way down and she bent her neck.

Andy is now sweating profusely, his voice is a notch higher in pitch and I can see a bit of panic beginning to set in.

All the time I am telling him this is my prize cow and I am terribly worried.

Even though I was having a tough time with the old girl, I was beginning to get just a tiny bit of enjoyment out of his discomfort! :)

Then, as if she decided enough was enough, the cow spit it up. I heard it rattle on her teeth. Quick as a snake Andy drove his hand down the side of her mouth and retrieved the gun!

Moral of the story?

If you have to work at great heights with someone like Andy, make sure you tie a string to the gun!

Best regards

Bez
 

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