pasture bloat?

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hello I seem to have a mild case of pasture bloat in my herd. I am new to cattle raising and didn't know this could happen. tomorrow i am going to build a pen that i can keep the cattle off the pasture for a couple days. But how can I keep this from happening in the future? any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
 
What kind of pasture? There are a couple ofways of handling it, the easiest is to put out "bloat blocks".

If they aren;t in distress and are only gassy and look like balloons but cintinue to act normal except for the gas I wouldn;t worry about it. If it is rapidly growing grass I woiuld be more concerned with grass tetany then bloat
 
well i am not sure what the pasture is composed of. it is a long lush pasture and the cattle all eat and the only symptom of bloat is the lopsided stomach. should i not worry about it if there still eating and doing good?
 
Bloat or full cows? When mine come up to the water, they look like they're about to explode. They're not bloated, they're full. Any frothing at the mouth, difficulty breathing, cows not able to get up?
 
No no other symptoms just that the left side of there stomach is up higher than the right. they seem very healthy other than that. I was only worried because a relative mentioned they might be bloated. would the left side of the stomach be up higher than the right if they are just full? I will try to get a picture today and post tonight.
 
Choo-Choo Ranch":o02gtknf said:
No no other symptoms just that the left side of there stomach is up higher than the right. they seem very healthy other than that. I was only worried because a relative mentioned they might be bloated. would the left side of the stomach be up higher than the right if they are just full? I will try to get a picture today and post tonight.
They're just full. If they aren;t in distress from it and are farting/belching and crapping ok it isn;t bloat.
 
Choo-Choo Ranch":3q16smx9 said:
No no other symptoms just that the left side of there stomach is up higher than the right. they seem very healthy other than that. I was only worried because a relative mentioned they might be bloated. would the left side of the stomach be up higher than the right if they are just full? I will try to get a picture today and post tonight.

It's possible. Generally speaking, if they are still chewing their cud they are just very full.
 
Well maybe being from halfway across the world makes a difference but...
I have to disagree.

If you're seeing the swelling lopsided, high on the left side, that's mild bloat and indicates the need for precaution - whether that's grazing management, bloat blocks, frequent checking with knife at belt.
I don't know about you guys, but I find dead cows before seeing any signs of distress.

Maybe exacerbated by rotational grazing. I'm also sure it's worse with 12-hour shifts than 24-hour shifts.
http://cowcalfandvet.blogspot.com/2008/ ... loons.html
heifer pictured at bottom of that post has mild bloat - not in any discomfort.
 
Choo-Choo Ranch":1cmdr9jw said:
hello I seem to have a mild case of pasture bloat in my herd. I am new to cattle raising and didn't know this could happen. tomorrow i am going to build a pen that i can keep the cattle off the pasture for a couple days. But how can I keep this from happening in the future? any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
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Choo-Choo...,

How pregnant are the cows?

Were they on fescue?..clover?...other?

Do you have them on minerals?


Our experience with mild/severe bloat signs are a full round stomach extended to the point that the hip bones are almost un-noticeable......... in the severe case.

The heifer in the above pic with head extended to the right/rear would naturally cause exaggeration of the left side.
 
The heifer in the above pic with head extended to the right/rear would naturally cause exaggeration of the left side.

bloat.jpg


better?

46_bloat.JPG
 

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