Hardware

[Baystatetom]

I typically do not do much with my team in the spring as I am busy with other things, I turn them out to pasture as soon as things green up and hardly do more then look once a day to be sure they are still in there. I noticed my near steer was looking a little thin but didn’t think much of it until he was looking a lot thin. Thats when I really noticed his ears hanging low and his lethargic behavior. I put the weight tape on him and found he had lost 200 pounds in less then a month and was running a 104 fever.
His symptoms seem to indicate hardware disease. Rapid weight loss, stiff movements, high fever, standing hunched up. I immediately took him to the vet and started him penicillin, gave him a magnet and shoveled out the back of his stall so he is now standing uphill.
After just a few days I can see quite an improvement although it will probably take a while to gain back that weight.
The thing the vet didn’t have an answer for was how long should I wait before I can start working him again? Like I said I don’t do much with them this time of year anyway but it would be nice to get them in the yoke on occasion just so they don’t digress to far.
Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.
~Tom

[Author]

Posts