We have a Market Maine Angus X steer that's been bloated off and on everyday since October. I feel like we've tried everything there is to try and nothing seems to be working. Some of the things we've tried include
Tide, Baking Soda, Burping, Tubing, Vegetable and Canola Oil. We're at our wits end and just want to make weigh-in at our youth fair in January. If anyone has any experience with this or suggestions, please please please let me know! Thank you!
We had one that bloated pretty bad at fair a couple years ago. The steer got into a neighboring feed area and cleaned up the alfalfa hay which caused a thick frothy bloat. We tubed the steer, but the frothy buildup was several inches thick, so we gave it mineral oil to break the gas bubbles. After the mineral oil, the student walked the steer around to keep the bowels moving. That steer was used to eating a diet of corn/barley and grass hay.
Mix new feedstuffs with feedstuffs the animal is used to eating and make sure they have access to free-choice grass hay seems to be a good trick. Also, if they just seem to be out of whack, like this one you might get a product called Pro Biotic. It's a gel that helps to put bacteria back into the rumen to get the digestive process working again. If Pro Biotic is not available, I've also heard of feeding yogurt for the same reason.
Good luck,
Justin