"It's the fastest new 'gun' in the west," says Hank Kleinwolterink, Sheldon, Iowa, manufacturer of Cow-Poke, billed as "the world's first air powered pole syringe for treating cattle or hogs without having to remove them from the pen."

"The outstanding feature of this first-of-its kind syringe is its ability to inject up to 20 cc of medication into a critter before the animal reflexes," explains Kleinwolterink, who teamed up with cattleman Dixon Granstra to invent the Cow-Poke.

Equipped with a 20 cc Ardes syringe, the Cow-Poke for cattle is 75 in. long (60-in. reach from hand to syringe) and weighs 3 lbs. A shorter "Poke" for hogs is half as long.

The air-powered syringe is available in a "non-adjustable" model which delivers a single dose (up to 20 cc) per injection, or in a "Select-A-CC" model (slated for introduction in June or July) with an adjustable screw, allowing you to administer as little as icc per injection.

To treat an animal, you simply poke the needle into the flesh and simultaneously depress a thumb button to "trigger" the air cylinder. "It's all over with before the animal has a chance to reflex," explains Kleinwolterink. "If you've got several animals in a pen that need vaccinating, one person working alone can use the Cow-Poke to treat the entire lot right in the pen without using a chute. You carry it in one hand, and a paint gun in the other to mark each animal as it's treated."