Post by Lannie on Dec 20, 2010 11:41:29 GMT -5
I hope this isn't really an emergency, and I'm posting in the wrong section, but just in case...
I went out to feed everyone this morning, and Seven (15-month-old steer) was in his "special place" in the chicken run. He's torn a hole in the chicken wire and he goes in there to get away from the horses sometimes. So I brought hay out for everyone and he stayed where he was. I thought that was odd, because he NEVER turns down chow. Then I noticed that he'd been standing in the same place for a long time because there were no footprints in the snow (we had a bunch of snow last night). I thought maybe he was staying there to keep out of the wind, so I took his hay in the chicken run and gave it to him there, then went on about my business of feeding/watering the chickens and back into the house to warm up.
45 minutes later when I came out to milk, I noticed Seven wasn't out in the corral with the horses, and popped around the coop to check on him. At that point he was lying down and it looked like he hadn't even touched his hay. A couple of the flakes were still whole. So then I KNEW something was wrong. I went in there and checked him all over, prodded him to get up, etc., and he just laid there. Then I noticed the HUGE bulge. He was lying on his right hip, so it was sticking up right on top. I still couldn't get him up, so I abandoned milking (thank God for Sammi) and went back in the house to get Rich and see if we could get some baking soda or oil into him.
I made up a bottle of about 2 quarts of warm water and a cup and a half of baking soda, and grabbed a bottle of sunflower oil and we went back out. I managed to get about one good glug of the baking soda water into him before he got up and tried to run away. That was all I ever got in him. I figured since he was up, I'd keep making him move (oh, and he did burp once when he got up), so I slogged around pushing him here and there, trying to keep him moving. When I pressed on the bloated area, he arched his back up and down and he was shivering. It's only 20 degrees, so not that cold, and he has plenty of winter coat on him (there's unmelted snow on his back), so I assume it was pain. Poor guy.
About then Rich couldn't handle the cold anymore, so he had to go back inside. I got the spare halter and managed to get that on Seven, hooked the lead on and started leading him (MUCH easier than pushing). We walked around for another 15 minutes or so, and he burped once more. No poops or anything, though. When I checked his left side, it seemed like the air was all gone, at least while standing, and he didn't seem to be shivering very much, although he still was a little bit. He's not interested in eating his hay, but that's probably a good thing at this point, right?
We don't have grain, so he didn't get into any, and there's no fresh alfalfa or even any green grass in the pasture, so it's not frosty/frozen alfalfa. His poops have been normal, so I know he's been drinking. I can't figure out what might have caused him to bloat like this. And frankly, I don't think two burps would have expelled as much air as was in that bubble when he was lying down.
My question is, do you think he's over the hump? When I left him, he was just standing in the corral, but I couldn't feel any air on his left side. I don't know if there's still any in there until he lays back down again. And being on a diet of just hay with the occasional flake of alfalfa, what could have caused him to bloat in the first place? I'm confused, and I don't know if I should still be worrying or if this is over already.
Help?
~Lannie
I went out to feed everyone this morning, and Seven (15-month-old steer) was in his "special place" in the chicken run. He's torn a hole in the chicken wire and he goes in there to get away from the horses sometimes. So I brought hay out for everyone and he stayed where he was. I thought that was odd, because he NEVER turns down chow. Then I noticed that he'd been standing in the same place for a long time because there were no footprints in the snow (we had a bunch of snow last night). I thought maybe he was staying there to keep out of the wind, so I took his hay in the chicken run and gave it to him there, then went on about my business of feeding/watering the chickens and back into the house to warm up.
45 minutes later when I came out to milk, I noticed Seven wasn't out in the corral with the horses, and popped around the coop to check on him. At that point he was lying down and it looked like he hadn't even touched his hay. A couple of the flakes were still whole. So then I KNEW something was wrong. I went in there and checked him all over, prodded him to get up, etc., and he just laid there. Then I noticed the HUGE bulge. He was lying on his right hip, so it was sticking up right on top. I still couldn't get him up, so I abandoned milking (thank God for Sammi) and went back in the house to get Rich and see if we could get some baking soda or oil into him.
I made up a bottle of about 2 quarts of warm water and a cup and a half of baking soda, and grabbed a bottle of sunflower oil and we went back out. I managed to get about one good glug of the baking soda water into him before he got up and tried to run away. That was all I ever got in him. I figured since he was up, I'd keep making him move (oh, and he did burp once when he got up), so I slogged around pushing him here and there, trying to keep him moving. When I pressed on the bloated area, he arched his back up and down and he was shivering. It's only 20 degrees, so not that cold, and he has plenty of winter coat on him (there's unmelted snow on his back), so I assume it was pain. Poor guy.
About then Rich couldn't handle the cold anymore, so he had to go back inside. I got the spare halter and managed to get that on Seven, hooked the lead on and started leading him (MUCH easier than pushing). We walked around for another 15 minutes or so, and he burped once more. No poops or anything, though. When I checked his left side, it seemed like the air was all gone, at least while standing, and he didn't seem to be shivering very much, although he still was a little bit. He's not interested in eating his hay, but that's probably a good thing at this point, right?
We don't have grain, so he didn't get into any, and there's no fresh alfalfa or even any green grass in the pasture, so it's not frosty/frozen alfalfa. His poops have been normal, so I know he's been drinking. I can't figure out what might have caused him to bloat like this. And frankly, I don't think two burps would have expelled as much air as was in that bubble when he was lying down.
My question is, do you think he's over the hump? When I left him, he was just standing in the corral, but I couldn't feel any air on his left side. I don't know if there's still any in there until he lays back down again. And being on a diet of just hay with the occasional flake of alfalfa, what could have caused him to bloat in the first place? I'm confused, and I don't know if I should still be worrying or if this is over already.
Help?
~Lannie