Individual daily consumption of a medicated bloat block

Abstract

Individual detergent intakes of 11 Angus steers given access to two molasses blocks containing 10 per cent alcohol ethoxylate detergent were estimated using tritiated water as a marker. A surveillance camera was used to monitor the pattern of block consumption. Mean individual detergent consumption estimated by the tritiated water method was 19.3 g head-1 day-l compared with a mean detergent intake of 17.7 g head-1 day-1 obtained by weighing the blocks. Eight of the 11 animals consumed an effective daily dose of detergent with two more consuming 80 per cent of the effective daily dose. One steer did not come onto the blocks. Three-quarters of the animals visited the block daily and more than half of the animals made multiple daily visits to the block. The finding that 10 of the 11 steers consumed an effective or near effective daily dose of the detergent combined with the high frequency of visits to the blocks further suggests that the medicated bloat blocks should be satisfactory in reducing the incidence of bloat.