Cow bloat?

[2LaneCruzer]

Just curious what does the milk and kerosene do to the cow?

The milk and kerosene form an emulsion that acts as a surfactant that eliminates the frothing and bubbling in the cow's stomach. That is an old remedy, and remember our Ag teacher mixing it up, putting it in a quart ginger ale bottle and forcing it down the cow, who burped very forcefully.

 

[Wagtail]

How did these things survive in the wild?

~moses

There are no grass clippings in the wild. Grass clippings don't require a lot of chewing as your mower blades have already done most of the chopping up that the cow's (and horse's) teeth do to slow down the ingestion.

 

[Clint S]

There are no grass clippings in the wild. Grass clippings don't require a lot of chewing as your mower blades have already done most of the chopping up that the cow's (and horse's) teeth do to slow down the ingestion.

Grass clippings have little to do with bloat if it was ''grass''. Bloat is either caused by a mechanical obstruction not allowing a cow to burp and release gas or a froth or foam forming in the rumen. The froth is formed from ingesting rapidly growing forages such as legumes like clover and alfalfa or vegetable greens (one of our cows got it from eating out of the garden). These breakdown in the rumen and create a ''froth'' on the rumen fluid that prevent the small bubbles of gas formed by rumen fermentation from coming together to form free gas that can be belched out. Sometimes it can be walked off and other times a tube needs to go down the throat to relieve the pressure as a last resort as stated above the rumen needs to be punctured through the ribs. There are also anti froth agents that are as simple as peanut oil. I researched it when our cow got it. I recommended a vet due to not wanting to say try this or that and have it not work.
As to how they survived, like everything most lived and some died.

 

[greenmojo]

Lots of good information!

I figured that's what was happening, high moisture content in the grass and they didn't have to work for it, so they just stuffed themselves.

I walked her around for about 45 minutes or so again and she's looking better I think.

I can just start to see the indention just in front of her hip bone on her left side.

~Moses

 

[Mace Canute]

If I recall my FFA courses correctly, bloat can cause the death of the animal. The common remedy is to drench them with a mixture of milk and kerosene, or to puncture the stomach with a trocar. If you can't handle it, I would call a vet IMMEDIATELY!

We used to force feed them raw linseed oil and turpentine in a 10 to 1 mix and we also had a #7 gauge hypodermic needle that we would stick into them to relieve the gas. AFAICR all of our bloated cattle was a result of getting a little too much grain when they weren't used to it.

 

[redman135]

Walking the animal was the right thing to do. It helps break the layer of froth that is preventing the animal from belching.
There are specific anti-bloat drenches avalible.
Your photo shows you got to the problem early. I have seen cattle in much worse bloat than that. It hits fast, and needs swift treatment.
It is caused by legumes, (clover and alfalfa), and occurs in spring mainly in moist rapid growth conditions.

 

[Bird]

I can remember an uncle who said cows that were not accustomed to being in Johnson Grass, but which got into it when there was pollen would bloat. The first time I heard of him saving one of his cows by stabbing her with a long butcher knife, I just couldn't believe it. But he obviously knew exactly where to insert that knife.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I can remember an uncle who said cows that were not accustomed to being in Johnson Grass, but which got into it when there was pollen would bloat. The first time I heard of him saving one of his cows by stabbing her with a long butcher knife, I just couldn't believe it. But he obviously knew exactly where to insert that knife.

Johnson Grass can be lethal in more ways than one. It's not commonly known, but under certain conditions Johnson Grass will produce HCN, (Prussic Acid), a cyanide compound that will kill the cattle grave yard dead.

Toxic Forage | Georgia FACES | UGA

 

[Bird]

Johnson Grass can be lethal in more ways than one. It's not commonly known, but under certain conditions Johnson Grass will produce HCN, (Prussic Acid), a cyanide compound that will kill the cattle grave yard dead.

Toxic Forage | Georgia FACES | UGA

The uncle I mentioned was a farmer quite a ways northwest of Oklahoma City and that was in the late '40s/early '50s. And of course some years my Dad bought some Johnson Grass hay. Then in the late '90s, I cut and baled some Johnson Grass hay got a neighbor. But, yep, I learned it can be deadly at times.

 

[SIMassey]

I fed some grass clippings from the lawn to the two new pasture mashers and noticed the heifer starting to get a bit large in the belly... her left side larger than her right.

I looked it up, and discovered something that is common knowledge to people with 4 legged animals called bloat.

From what I can gather it is pretty serious, and I wanted to know if I need to do something about it or let it run its course? Will it slowly go away or?

Here's a pic from just a few minutes ago.

View attachment 429614

~Moses

I seem to remember gently pushing a short piece of garden hose down their throat. ( with the connector ends cut off of course) once you reached the stomach, there was a rush of gas. Point the end away from you, the smell is putrid.