Help! Cows Bloat on new Hay!

TexCountryWoman · #1 12/19/05, 09:55 AM

Things have improved slightly since yesterday but I would appreciate any ideas. Here is the situation: We have a very small herd of beef cattle, 1 bull, 6 cows and a heifer. We are in a severe drought and have NO grass or forage, just dirt and sand. The cattle (and equines) have been getting somewhat limited hay (excellent coastal) because our hay buggy is broke and we had to pull mass quantities of hay by hand three times a day from our round bales and throw it over the fence to the livestock (after carrying it 50 yards). this went on for about 2 weeks so the animals were not getting quite enough but not doing too bad. Then on Saturday, today is monday, our friend delivered 3 round bales of year old hay (I thought it was coastal, my DH thinks it's tifton, looks like coastal to me). The cattle and 3 horses got 2 round bales and the 10 donkeys got 1.

Okay, the cattle by Sunday , about 24 hours later were horribly boated with rock hard rumens. They kept laying down and some were not chewing their cuds. My hubby and I kept getting them up and I was rubbing and massaging bellies making them burp. I put Baking Soda out next to their mineral block (never saw them eat it yet). We even had to rock the hereford bull back and forth to get him up but then he proceeded back to the round bales to eat. I don't have a patch to put them in that has water as all the ponds have dried up because of the drought and of course we cannot move the hay. I do have a small front patch i could put them in but only a temporary solution. Does a hay chage like this often cause such a problem? The only time we have ever lost a cow to bloat is when one got out and ate some poison roadside johnson grass. BTW, the equines are fine...Diane

JeffNY · #2 12/19/05, 12:49 PM

What might help is a laxative bolus. One of my beef crosses wasn't feeling well, wasn't chewing her cud. She wasn't bloated, but was constapated. They might help to pass some of the stuff, or your animals simply might be eating that new hay because they overly like it. Last fall we had some eat and eat, they were filled to the max. Their stomachs were solid, the next day they were deflated

.

Jeff

TexCountryWoman · #3 12/19/05, 02:24 PM

Thanks for the input. The cattle have loose bowels right now so things are moving through pretty well. I think they are chowing down on the hay, even though it is not as good as what we were feeding, because they have been underfed somewhat although they have remained in good condition. Hay is a bit in short supply. I keep checking them and they remain bloated with rumens as tight and hard as can be. We can't afford to lose even one head. We had to sell off more than half the herd during the last drought. Besides, they are all pets. ..Diane

genebo · #4 12/19/05, 04:23 PM

I had the same thing happen here when I brought in some old hay. One heifer bloated so severely that she lost her calf.

The vet gave me Poloxalene to give them. He said that you add it to water or vegetable oil and drench the cow with it. Put it in a wine bottle, put it deep in their mouth and pour. He said it would work in minutes.

I'll try it next time. My cows spontaneously got over the bloat before I could get home with the medicine.

A friend of mine used massage and soap drench to cure her bull. Once he burped and passed gas a few times it was all over.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

SmokedCow · #5 12/19/05, 10:01 PM

If the bloat has not gone down, and you have a chute with a head gate on it..I woudl get them in a put a 3 ft. tube down to their tummy...then get one person on both sides of the animal..and PUSH the air out the tube...we do this when bloat is bad...The air comming out will smell bad..Just a heads up..If you dont feelup to it..call your vet..and they will know what to do..and if they dont...Get a new vet!
Good Luck!!
AJ

mountainman_bc · #6 12/19/05, 10:53 PM

You've got a lot invested there, I think it's worth a vet visit. I wouldn't hesitate for another minute.

TexCountryWoman · #7 12/20/05, 12:02 PM

Thanks for all the advice. The cows are better. I was going to call out the vet the first several hours, but i was not sure he could even do much out here because we do not have shoots or headgates. Our corral system fell apart several decades ago and now we use local cowboys who come out on horseback to work the cattle, they rope the calves and put them on a trailer and haul them to the sal barn or we work them on foot (they are tame enough to walk up with liquid wormer to pour it on their backs etc) yes, i was worried about losing thousands and thousands of dollars worth of cattle. I generally watch them like a hawk for this very reason. My DH is no rancher or handyman, more of a transplanted cityslicker, leaving me with the task of minding the ranch. I'm a "young" grandma, hence the polled Herefords, easy and gentle to work on foot! Thanks again, i think i got really lucky, i hope it's over...Diane