Hardware disease in cattle is something farms often suffer with.

What is hardware disease in cattle?
•    When a cow ingests a heavy and sharp piece of metal.
•    The metal falls into the rumen and is then pushed into the reticulum.
•    Contractions in the reticulum cause the piece to go into the peritoneal cavity causing inflammation to occur.

What are the signs of hardware disease?
•    Depending on how the object penetrates the cavity the signs will vary.
•    Common signs:
◦    Pain
◦    No appetite
◦    Arched back
◦    Don't want to walk
◦    Making a “grunting” noise when forced to walk
◦    Bloat

How can you diagnosis hardware?
•    Can make by visually watching the cow for the signs.
•    You can do a test called the “Withers Test”.
◦    Push down on the backbone of the cow right behind the withers.
◦    If they make a grunting noise it is usually hardware disease.

How to treat hardware disease?
•    Most common treatment plan for hardware disease in cattle is giving the cow a magnet that goes into her first stomach and then goes into the reticulum.

Some prevention methods?
•    Monitor the feed for foreign bodies.
•    Put magnets in feed augers.

Hardware disease can cause a lot of problems with your cows. Prevention can be hard to do but if you have signs of hardware treat with a magnet right away before it gets to bad. Try out the silver star magnet the next time you have hardware in your cattle.

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