Bloated steer

[Chant]

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to handle a chronically bloated steer (aside from taking him to the salebarn )?  He is on a pre-mixed ration of corn, oats, and supplement, and is fed prairie hay by hand everyday.  He is not terribly bloated but it chronically "high" every evening when we go to feed him.  We have taken him off the corn and given him straight hay for a few days and worked him back up on corn, only to have him bloat again.  We have also given him a prebiotic paste, also with little help.  Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[The Show]

What's in the feed your feeding him? He needs to have lots of hay and lots of room to run around.

 

[vc]

The Show is right on, we had a steer doing the same thing, fine in the morning when we put them in the barn, by afternoon bloated, started throwing hay out for them a half hour before we put them in the barn, bloat has gone away. We also cut back on the morning feeding and added it to the night time feeding. steers run in a 160' by 80' pasture at night.

Our steer would be about half bloated and burping like crazy each afternoon, was never to the point of needing tubed. But as soon as we kicked them out at night and he got to the hay, you could see the bloat diminish quickly.

We are now feeding 2 steers a total of, 44 pounds of grain and sups a day( 14 pounds in the morning and 30 pounds at night), plus 4-5 flakes of forage hay (3 to 4 flakes at night and 1 big flake in the morning at around 5 am)

I would just feed them once a day at night if we weren't giving supplements in the morning, calves go back and forth between the grain and hay all night long. Have had to run them in early a time or 2 and they were feeding at 4:00 am.

 

[kanshow]

You could put out a bloat guard block.  Or put some baking soda or laundry detergent in their feed.   

 

[kk]

Baking soda

 

[cotullaguy]

we use to use Tide soap....have not done that in years though...so probably baking soda sounds safer now after all of these years...

 

[Chant]

Do you just top dress that baking soda or tide and about how much do you give for a 1050 lb steer?  PS  He has plenty of room to run so that shouldn't be the problem.

 

[BCCC]

We have always used tide laundry detergent but not the new ones that have all the snazzy stuff in them, just get the cardboard box with granules. We would feed like half a scoop(the scoop that comes with it)

 

[farmin female]

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to handle a chronically bloated steer (aside from taking him to the salebarn )?  He is on a pre-mixed ration of corn, oats, and supplement, and is fed prairie hay by hand everyday.  He is not terribly bloated but it chronically "high" every evening when we go to feed him.  We have taken him off the corn and given him straight hay for a few days and worked him back up on corn, only to have him bloat again.  We have also given him a prebiotic paste, also with little help.  Any suggestions appreciated.

Insurance is the first thing I would add!

Actually had a calf that was real bad last year.  Accorrding to a vet I know, our calf's problem stemmed from a bout of pneumonia when we first got him home.  To make a long story short, you end up building up scar tissue which effects the digestive system and it is not fixable.  Hopefully that's not your problem.  Regardless, here are some of the things we did.  We added baking soda to his food.  I just bought a box of it and dumped a couple tablespoons on his food each night.  I don't know that you can overdose on baking soda.  It is imperative that you do buy a rumensin block.  Double check what you buy because not all bloat block is the same.  (I purchased a block that was specifically called a rumensin block.)  You can drench them with pennicillian and then follow up with probios.  This kills the bad bugs in the system and starts the good ones growing again. Adding probios to his food daily won't hurt.  Avoid gas building foods such as alfalfa and - I believe- barley.  Add fiber such as cottonseed hulls.  Sometimes simple things help such as excercise.  Make him walk so that he burps.  My son would put a stick in his steers mouth - a thick one they can't chew through - and tie it around his ears and let him chew on it for a bit.  This also will make them burp and expell gas.  Good Luck.

 

[shufly]

Vitaferm Sure Champ pellets