Hmmm . . . some cattle are chronic bloaters and it seems nothing can be done to stop them from bloating, short of surgery or a trip to the sale barn.
But, have you tried giving him something like probios to try and restore the beneficial bacteria in his gut?
Is he on antibiotics that might be killing all bacteria in his gut, good and bad?
Are you changing his feed frequently? If so, give him a couple of weeks on the same feed so he can establish those good bacteria necessary for digestion of that particular food.
You are feeding him "good hay" which is what you want to do. However, good hay could mean one of several things. If it is 3rd crop alfalfa, for example, with lots of leaf, he might not be getting enough roughage to stimulate his gut and move the food through. Coarser hay is better, within reason. You could try adding some coarse straw (without grain still in it or with little grain) as part of his ration to increase the roughage in his diet.
Is he on a bloat block? Bloat blocks don't treat bloat, but they do prevent most cases, IF fed on a daily basis. It takes 2 days for the med in the bloat block to kick in, and a missed day means you have to start over.
Since you've had the vet out, I'll assume you are seeing true bloat and not just a large belly from eating hay. The danger with bloat is if it gets to the extreme where the stomach presses on the lungs, or takes up space the lungs need for breathing, you can lose the steer from oxygen deprivation.
There are some feed additives that are supposed to help prevent bloat (bovatec?) but I've not tried them, other than the usual bloat block.
Good luck to you!
> have a 6 month old weaned steer
> and all he does is bloat up no
> matter what i feed him.i cut him
> off the grain and just fed him
> good hay and he still bloats. some
> days he's fine then an hour later
> he bloats up again.he has never
> turned down any hay that i have
> given him or gone off his feed.Is
> this something he'll out grow? any
> ideas what i should try? had the
> vet in and he "deflated"
> him once...
