Cows, calves and veterinary

Time to take action against bloat

As a matter of course, I usually add bloat oil to the cows' drench as soon as they come off autumn-saved grass and continue till late November. It's precautionary - I almost never see any signs of bloat.

The cows right now are grazing pasture previously grazed in mid-June, well over 3000kgDM/ha and with a mature look that suggested it wasn't bloat-y, so I decided to wait until they reached the younger looking grass, about a week away. And it's convenient to not have to worry about traces of bloat oil in calf milk or on their feeders (both being in the same location; bloat oil might save cows but it can kill calves).
Number 51's failure to turn up for evening milking (she is still alive in this image) tells me I was wrong. Better to continue with what works than attempt to guess whether it's necessary.

'Take the herd off quietly' is the vet recommendation for bringing bloat affected cows home to drench. My cows didn't sulk at the request to walk all the way from the back of the farm again - or go quietly either, they skipped the whole way home. There was no sign of bloat, but drenching them gives peace of mind. Let's hope the remainder of the season is the usual "is this stuff actually doing anything? Nary a sign of trouble."

posted by nellta holdings @ 2:08 AM