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Studies on the Experimental Production and Prevention of Bloat in Cattle. II. The Influence of Dehydration on the Bloat-Producing Ability of Alfalfa¹

Department of Animal Husbandry, University of California, Davis

ABSTRACT

This study, in comparing the bloat-producing ability of alfalfa before and after commercial dehydration, demonstrates that this process greatly reduces the ability of alfalfa to produce bloat. A coincident study was made of the effect of fresh and dehydrated alfalfa on ruminal motility and eructation in one cow. In the first trial, fresh alfalfa was assayed for three consecutive days, following a four-day preliminary period, using eight bloat-susceptible cattle. Alfalfa, collected from the same field on the second day of the assay period, was dehydrated for the subsequent comparative trials. The fresh alfalfa was fed ad libitum for 2-hr. periods, at 8 A.M. and at 1 P.M. Alfalfa consumption for each cow was determined. The degree of bloat was estimated with a tym-panometer. The same procedure was followed in assessing the dehydrated alfalfa, except that each cow's intake was limited on the basis of dry matter to the amount of fresh alfalfa consumed previously. The average, maximal, intrarumen gas pressures attained were 27 mm. Hg above atmospheric pressure with fresh alfalfa, and < 5 mm. Hg after receiving dehydrated alfalfa. It is suggested that a partial explanation for this reduction of bloat associated with dehydration may be a denaturation of water-soluble plant protein.

¹ In cooperation with the Animal Disease and Parasite Research Branch, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.