Post by Lannie on Jan 24, 2015 17:35:12 GMT -5
Yeah, when Bandit had to be stabbed, she was wanting NOTHING to do with ANYTHING for the rest of the day. She went off by herself and stood in the trees all day, with me surreptitiously checking on her every 30 minutes or so. She didn't seem interested in eating much even that night, just a few nibbles of hay, but by the next day, she was eating better.
I was going to say earlier (but forgot), give her some plain bread yeast (or nutritional yeast if you have it, but bread yeast is fine) in her feed for a while to get the bloat under control. It seems counterproductive, because yeast off-gasses, but it was the only thing that kept Bandit's bloat under control when she was having problems. Also, don't forget the probiotics! I don't know if Bandit's a special case, or if all cows react the same, but bread yeast seems to be the magic fix-all for her if she starts looking gassy at all. I give Bandit two or three rounded tablespoons of it when there's a bloat problem, and just one tablespoon if it's only a little gas. I have to start out slow with her, because it takes a while before she gets used to the taste, but then she decides she likes it.
Once you give Maggie the oxytet, her rumen microflora will be killed off. I gave Bandit just probiotics (after her first antibiotics several years ago), but then she had a chronic bloat issue. Not so much in the winter, but on green grass, it was terrible. When I finally learned they need yeast to balance everything out and started giving her that, she hasn't bloated at all. After the bad bloat last fall when she got cast and I had to stab her, I did both probiotics and yeast for at least a month afterward, and continued on with the yeast until just recently. I'll start her on it again when the grass comes in. Anyway, once she was up and eating after the stabbing, she was fine and never looked back. It's VERY cheap insurance.
~Lannie
I was going to say earlier (but forgot), give her some plain bread yeast (or nutritional yeast if you have it, but bread yeast is fine) in her feed for a while to get the bloat under control. It seems counterproductive, because yeast off-gasses, but it was the only thing that kept Bandit's bloat under control when she was having problems. Also, don't forget the probiotics! I don't know if Bandit's a special case, or if all cows react the same, but bread yeast seems to be the magic fix-all for her if she starts looking gassy at all. I give Bandit two or three rounded tablespoons of it when there's a bloat problem, and just one tablespoon if it's only a little gas. I have to start out slow with her, because it takes a while before she gets used to the taste, but then she decides she likes it.
Once you give Maggie the oxytet, her rumen microflora will be killed off. I gave Bandit just probiotics (after her first antibiotics several years ago), but then she had a chronic bloat issue. Not so much in the winter, but on green grass, it was terrible. When I finally learned they need yeast to balance everything out and started giving her that, she hasn't bloated at all. After the bad bloat last fall when she got cast and I had to stab her, I did both probiotics and yeast for at least a month afterward, and continued on with the yeast until just recently. I'll start her on it again when the grass comes in. Anyway, once she was up and eating after the stabbing, she was fine and never looked back. It's VERY cheap insurance.
~Lannie