Sundown power-plate cow magnet

Details

The plate pattern is a flatter, wider magnet body rather than a slim cylinder. Some operators prefer that shape on the theory that it presents more surface for metal to attach to and is less likely to be carried along by reticular contractions; others simply find one shape easier to load and administer than another. Either way the function is identical — it lodges in the reticulum permanently and holds swallowed wire, nails and staples in a clump that cannot penetrate the wall. Hardware disease is one of the few serious cattle problems with a genuinely cheap preventive. Once a sharp object works through the reticulum into the abdomen or, worse, forward into the pericardium, you are looking at a poor prognosis and a real cost. One magnet at the start of an animal's productive life is a fraction of that. Administer one per animal with a balling gun, well over the tongue so it is swallowed rather than dropped. Do it alongside another handling job rather than as its own trip through the chute, and write it down — you cannot tell by looking whether a cow already has one. Doubling up on an older cow of unknown history is not harmful, just unnecessary. Store magnets separated from each other and away from loose steel; two of these stuck together take real effort to part. Keep them clear of electronics, magnetic-stripe cards and pacemakers. And remember what a magnet does not do: it holds ferrous metal only, so it will not help with aluminum, glass, plastic or baler twine. Picking up wire and keeping the feeding area clean still matters.