OCCASIONS AND CHARACTER OF BLOAT. 49 



TYMPANITES OR BLOAT. 



It is well known to stockmen that a number of the legumes may 

 produce serious or even fatal cases of bloating in sheep and cattle. 

 The plants which most often cause this trouble are alfalfa, white clover, 

 and red clover. As a rule these plants produce bloat only when eaten 

 in a green condition. A few cases of tympanites, however, have been 

 reported as due to eating one or the other of these plants in the form 

 of hay. Stockmen frequently allow cattle and sheep to graze upon 

 clover and alfalfa meadows in the late fall 'after the stock has been 

 brought in from the range. At such times the clover and alfalfa 

 usually have a height of about i to 6 inches and are still growing more 

 or less vigorousl}^ according to the prevailing temperature. Cattle 

 and sheep frequently suffer from various digestiA^e disturbances which 

 are due to the sudden change of diet from the dry grass upon the 

 ranges to the green succulent growth of the 3'oung clover and alfalfa. 



In regard to the tendency to produce bloating, there seems to be lit- 

 tle difference between the cultivated clover and alfalfa. There is, how- 

 ever, a strong belief among a large number of stockmen that these 

 plants do not cause bloat except under peculiar conditions. It is fre- 

 quently asserted that green alfalfa and clovers may be eaten with 

 impunity b}- cattle or sheep at all times except when moistened by dew 

 or rain. Other stockmen believe that these plants are more likely to 

 produce bloating when eaten immediatel}^ after a slight frost. No 

 experiments have been conducted which would either prove or dis- 

 prove these beliefs. 



It appears to be well established that cattle and sheep may become 

 accustomed to eating these plants in a green state so that no bad effects 

 are produced by feeding upon them. It is, perhaps, to be considered 

 unwise to allow stock which are not accustomed to these plants in a 

 green state to feed upon them exclusively. A better plan would be to 

 permit such animals to graze upon them for a short time each day 

 until the digestive organs have become accustomed to the change of 

 diet. 



A considerable number of sheep and cattle die every year from bloat- 

 ing, and this trouble becomes quite serious at times. In the case of 

 bloat the production of gas in the first stomach of sheep and cattle 

 goes on so rapidly that the animal may die within from fifteen min- 

 utes to two hours unless assistance is rendered by the attendants. 

 With sheep the timel}" detection of bloating is rendered eas}^ b}'^ the 

 fact that these animals are kept under the constant attention of a 

 herder. With cattle the matter stands vevy differently. Little atten- 

 tion is paid to their movements, and consequently it frequently hap- 

 pens that cases of bloating among them are not noticed until after the 

 death of uhe animal. 



S. Doc. 160 4 



