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Bloat in Cattle. XIII. Efficacy of Molasses-Salt Blocks Containing Poloxalene in Control of Alfalfa Bloat¹

Kansas State University, Manhattan, Southeast Kansas Branch Station, Mound Valley, and Garden City Branch Station, Garden City

ABSTRACT

Five experiments were conducted to determine whether molasses-salt blocks containing the bloat preventive agent, poloxalene, might be used successfully to prevent alfalfa bloat in cattle. Rumen-fistulated identical twin Holstein cows, Angus x Holstein steers and heifers, Brown Swiss heifers, and lactating Brown Swiss cows were used. The molasses-salt blocks contained 66 g poloxalene per kg block. The blocks were offered to cattle grazing alfalfa or fed freshly cut alfalfa. Block intakes varied from 0.23 to 0.44 kg per animal per day in the five experiments. Intake was not related to body weight and seemed to be affected by weather and managerial factors. While intake fluctuated from day to day, minimum daily intakes were large enough to protect from severe alfalfa bloat when it occurred. Poloxalene block consumption lowered surface tension from 12 to 16 dynes per cm below that of control animals. Surface tension may serve as a simple method to estimate poloxalene intake.

¹ Contribution no. 659, Department of Dairy and Poultry Science, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, Kansas, no. 9, Southeast Kansas Branch Station, Mound Valley, Kansas, and no. 87, Garden City Branch Station, Garden City, Kansas. Supported in part by a grant from Smith Kline and French Laboratories, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, Decatur, Illinois.