09/10/2026
Bloat Is About
In recent days we have had several reports of deaths of yearlings and older
cattle from bloat. September is pretty early to be getting deaths, October
and November are often the real bloat months. Farmers are reporting plenty
of clover in pastures this Spring and it is clover that tends to drive the bloat
risk.
With any old cattle beast being worth $2000, losses from bloat need to be
avoided but keeping cattle safe can be challenging especially now that we
don’t have the option of bloat capsules which are no longer sold in NZ.
So what can be done to avoid bloat:
Where farms have sheep, grazing ewes and lambs, or hoggets under cattle,
or ahead of cattle, they can be used to reduce the clover component in
pasture. This is relatively simple to do but it is likely to slow cattle weight
gain.
Treating water troughs with bloat oil can work well where cattle don’t have
other water sources. It is time consuming and should really start a couple of
weeks before the bloat challenge occurs. The best way to treat water
troughs is to use an Inline Dispenser Unit. These units can be used for
bloat oil and will also distribute Rumensin which controls bloat by changing
the microbes in the rumen so they produce less gas. (Bloat Capsules also
contained rumensin.) If you have a good reticulated water system an inline
dispenser could be a good investment. It can also be used to supplement
stock with trace minerals such as iodine, selenium and copper. Pasture
spraying with bloat oil is another option but it needs to be done each day or
two and uses a lot of bloat oil which is becoming expensive!
If you are unfortunate enough to be confronted by a beast with severe, life
threatening bloat this spring, the place to stab it is on the left hand side, a
hand span or so below the T-bones (horizontal lumbar vertebral processes).
