| With
spring just around the corner, the year’s calves will
soon be arriving and the new spring grasses will be under
hoof.
Rich new
grasses are a welcome treat to cattle, but it does come
with responsibility.
A couple of
years ago, Noelly’s first spring here was a memorable
one, but not necessarily a fun one. Our farm had been a
large hay field for the past few decades and in much need
of attention. This gave us all a good bit of time with our
bull as we ended up having to assist him in getting the
beer like bubbles to pass through his system. We were
fortunate in catching this early enough to eradicate the
problem, but untreated, can cause severe pain, cramping
and even death.
In our area
of the country, high nitrogen and low magnesium levels can
be serious issues.
I had heard
of clover bloat and thought initially that the over
abundance of clover in our pasture could be the problem,
but after some investigating found that in fact the clover
was so lush because of the high nitrogen levels in our
soil. We talked to other farmers in the area and the only
thing we heard was to give them added
magnesium.
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This mineral
however is a preventative for grass tetany only, not
clover/nitrogen bloat. Allow them to graze for only short
periods of time and keep throwing them hay until summer.
Now these suggestions are still true today, but in case
your nitrogen levels are a concern, we found a wonderful
preventative. A good friend of ours in Virginia pointed us
in the right direction. He had found a mineral made by
Sweetlix that helps cattle to break down the frothy
bubbles. The name of the product is Bloat Guard. We have
since put these blocks into our pastures in anticipation
of the new grass for their systems to build up before it
becomes an issue. In case any of you are interested or in
need of this product, I am including a link to their
website http://www.sweetlix.com. We heard how bloat isn’t
in bulls (grass tetany doesn’t affect bulls) so I
invited all to come take a look at our poor Noelly. I
spoke with my mom, our vet and others that had farmed
years ago, but they knew of no preventative measures. |