Friday, February 02, 2007

at my job we are going to put it in babies!

Dairy and feeder cows in this country and around the world are given this large, almost fist-sized magnet, which is forced down their esophagus and lodges in one of the four stomachs, the rumen, to prevent or treat “farm machinery” disease. These ruminants eat metal objects like baling wire, barbed wire, nails, which can perforate the intestine and cause disease or death. This is prevented by the metal objects sticking to the magnet. At slaughter, the magnet is retrieved and often reused. This is common practice in the United States and most parts of the world.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why would a baby want a magnet in his rumen?