Hardware disease an issue for livestock

Mar 31, 2008 (American News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- Producers in northeast South Dakota should pay close attention to the tires they're using as feeders or water tanks, extension officials say.

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Livestock health could be put at risk.

A study by Russ Daly, a South Dakota State University Extension veterinarian, found thin wires inside cattle carcasses. The wire came from tire feeding stations and caused hardware disease, he said.

While the tires are more common in water tanks in northeastern South Dakota, if the tires are not inspected regularly, they can be hazardous to the animals, said Lanette Butler, McPherson County livestock educator.

As animals rub against the tires, they wear them down, Butler said. That exposes the steel wires, which then break off and can be ingested or puncture the animal.

Jennifer Poindexter, a veterinarian from Ree Heights who initially treated the livestock, said it's sometimes hard to identify the symptoms of hardware disease. For example, there will be reports of drooling.

"We'll have reports of the cows not coming up to eat, or abortion problems in the herd," she said in a news release.

Regardless of symptoms, Butler said all producers should regularly inspect all steel-belted tire feeders or tanks.

"They need to make sure they're not seeing any exposed steel belting," she said. "If they are, they need to take that tire out."

Even tires that are not used near feed or water should be inspected -- even those used as weight to hold down tarps, Poindexter said in the release.

"They need to check them all for exposed wire, so that it doesn't work its way into the feed," she said. "Any old, corroded tire with exposed wire is a potential for hardware disease."

If the disease is caught soon enough, antibiotics and veterinary care can help livestock, Poindexter said.

Daly said he would not discourage the use of tire feeders in South Dakota, but those in use should be in good condition.

"This is certainly no epidemic, nor something that would wipe out a herd," he said. "But it does give us an answer to some of those lingering health concerns we have seen in cattle."

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