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 4 to 6 inches and are still growing more or less vigorously according to the prevailing temperature. Cattle and sheep frequently suffer from various digestive disturbances which are due to the sudden change of diet from the dry grass upon the ranges to the green succulent growth of the young clover and alfalfa. In regard to the tendency to produce bloating, there seems to be little difference between the cultivated clover and alfalfa. There is, however, a strong belief among a large number of stockmen that these plants do not cause bloat except under peculiar conditions. It is frequently asserted that green alfalfa and clovers may be eaten with impunity by 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 immediately after a slight frost. No experiments have been conducted which would either prove or disprove 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 bloating, 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 minutes to two hours unless assistance is rendered by the attendants. With sheep the timely detection of bloating is rendered easy by the fact that these animals are kept under the constant attention of a herder. With cattle the matter stands very differently. Little attention is paid to their movements, and consequently it frequently happens that cases of bloating among them are not noticed until after the death of he animal. S. Doc. 160-4 The remedies in common use by herders and cowboys for preventing fatal results from bloating are doses of lard or fat pork, and paunching or rumenotomy. The usual method of making an incision in the stomach is by means of a long knife with a blade an inch or more in width. The knife is plunged directly through the body wall and into the stomach with a single stroke. The gases are thus allowed to escape through this opening and the pressure within the digestive organs is relieved. Some stockmen prefer to use the trochar and canula, which are especially designed for such cases and are for sale by dealers in veterinary instruments. The chief advantage is that the opening made by this instrument is much smaller than that produced by the knife, heals more readily, and is less likely to result in any complications. With regard to the value of these remedies for bloating it may be stated that they are exceedingly effective and quite safe in the hands of the average herder and cowboy. A few cases were observed in sheep where the herder had cut a slit of the length of 5 or 6 inches through the walls of the stomach, thus rendering it almost impossible for the wound to heal without the use of sutures. It is entirely unnecessary, however, to make incisions of greater length than 2 inches either in sheep or cattle to allow the gas to escape readily. In cases where the formation of gas does not take place rapidly and where the animals are noticed as soon as they begin to bloat the liberal application of cathartics is often quite sufficient to check the process of fermentation. Large doses of soda may also be given in connection with cathartics. Where, on the other hand, the production of gas has gone so far that the animal is unable to walk, immediate relief is necessary in order to prevent fatal consequences. The gas pressure upon the inside of the first stomach may become so great as to interfere with respiration and the action of the heart, or even to rupture the diaphragm or the stomach walls. The only way in which this pressure may be relieved is to make an incision directly into the stomach through that part of its wall which is adherent to the body wall, as already explained. A number of stockmen have inquired concerning the exact point at which the incision should be made. The proper place is located upon the left side of the body at a point equidistant from the last rib, the angle of the hip bone, and the vertebral column. After a little experience it will be easily found. NONPOISONOUS PLANTS WHICH ARE MECHANICALLY DANGEROUS. There occur in Montana, as indeed throughout the entire West, occasional losses of stock which are due to plants acting in a purely mechanical way, no poisonous substance being present. We refer to the penetrating action of the sharp barbed awns of the porcupine grass (Stipa spartea) and squirreltail (Hordeum jubatum). Both of these grasses make good fodder if cut when they are still young, but when nearly mature the awns easily separate and frequently get into the mouth and throat or the eyes and ears of stock, where they penetrate into the tissues and give rise ultimately to ulcers which cause such intense suffering to the animal that it must sometimes be killed. The squirreltail grass is well known throughout the State; the porcupine grass is not nearly so common. PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK IN MONTANA, OR SO REPUTED. MOST IMPORTANT POISONOUS SPECIES. DEATH CAMAS.1 (Zygadenus venenosus S. Wats.) Other names: Poison camas, lobelia, squirrel food, wild onion, poison sego, poison sego lily, mystery grass. DESCRIPTION, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION. A smooth, simple-stemmed perennial with a coated, onion-like bulb, narrow, linear leaves, and a short terminal cluster of yellowish-green flowers. The plant grows everywhere in Montana in moderately moist places on open ranges. Outside of Montana it is found from British Columbia to South Dakota, Nebraska, Utah, and California. Of all the various plants which are known or suspected to poison stock in early spring in Montana the death camas is undoubtedly the most important. This plant is found in every county of the State, and on every stock range which we had opportunity to visit. It usually occurs in great abundance in the localities where it is found, and these localities are, unfortunately, as a rule, moderately moist places, where the grass starts earliest in the spring. Another reason why this plant has to be considered the most important poisonous one concerned in cases of spring poisoning is that it starts up very early, usually somewhat in advance of the native grasses. A third reason is that its leaves are narrow and resemble grass leaves, though at the same time slightly thicker and more succulent than grass. These 1 Under the name death camas we mean to include those Montana forms which for many years have been known as Zygadenus venenosus. These have recently been separated into several new species, which were described by Dr. P. A. Rydberg in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, vol. 27, pp. 533 to 536, 1900. Our specimens were identified by Rydberg as the species which he has named Z. gramineus and Z. intermedius. Another authority to whom the specimens were submitted was of the opinion that our specimens belong to a single species. It is quite possible that they are distinct from Z. venenosus, but they have not been so considered in making up our notes. |