[pharnorth]

Very useful Fsmnutter, many thanks. 

Strangely one of the first things I recall about sheep- I think from 'Far From the Madding Crowd'. Not my favourite Hardy so can't be bothered to trawl through it but would be interested to know if it is in there and if the description is accurate should anyone know.   

[SallyintNorth]

Yes it's FFtMC, Angel Clare saving Bathsheba's flock as I recall.  Sticks a knife in their sides to let the gas escape.  Thought we were going to have to do it with a calf once, but the TAS special remedy did the trick!

[ladyK]

Very enlightening, thank you FSMN!

[pharnorth]

Thanks Sally it is about 40 years since I did it on the O level syllabus. I reckon it was what scared me off sheep for the next 35 years. I prefer fsmnutter's solution.

[suziequeue]

I vaguely recall a similar story relating to a cow in the James Herriot books. It was replicated on the TV series and I think it was Seigfried Farnon standing there covered in partially fermented grass which came out under great pressure when he put the knife in.

[Dan]

I think it will help a lot of people to have this reply in the permanent pink bit at the top of the sheep section (as there is in coffee lounge).   Is this what 'bookmark' is Sally? .  Otherwise, how is it done please Dan

I've stickied it so it will stay at the top of the Sheep section. In the absence of an on-site bookmarking system I'm happy to take nominations for posts that should be stickied, and in time put into an index of useful posts by subject.

@SallyintNorth I'll look through your bookmarks and sticky those, thanks for having the great idea to do this in the past. 

[Hellybee]

Brilliant post, I'm sure I remember reading on here about the water content being a factor too, wet grass more bubbles/gas? 

[verdifish]

Fsmnutter I am proud to call you my best mate and partner.

[Bionic]

Fsmnutter I am proud to call you my best mate and partner.

Awwww

[suziequeue]

Oh VF - you're such an ole romaaaaaantic

[EP90]

A  serendipity post, thanks fsmnutter.
This morning a 3 week old bottle fed lamb came out of the shed “bloated”.  Each year I purposely raise a few cade lambs and each year there is one that suffers from bloat. They don’t go out on grass for a couple of months, have creap and hay on hand, bottle feeds are more frequent than milk manufactures recommend, feeds are interrupted for a minute or two rather than let them have the whole bottle in one go, hygiene is OCD, yet one gets bloat !!  I’m getting paranoid....
A mixture of castor oil, veg oil and bicarb as recommended by a few on TAS has worked up to now.  Todays patient is looking better, swelling going down and looking for food although no milk until tomorrow earliest.

[Coximus]

High sugar and protein content in the food - especially pasture and clover in spring, can bring about bloat in sheep.

I find on a few fields which bloat anything in april and may, its worth feeding the animals up heavily on hay before moving them in, so the change of diet is more gradual, and trying to tightly stock the field as well so theyre less likely to suddenly gorge.

Some other peopel I know dont "move" the flock, but just leave the gate open between fields for the same reason, so the animals change diet over 24 hours rather than instantly.

This helps reduce bloating alot.

[Remy]

Thanks for the informative explanation 


I've only ever had bottle fed lambs suffer with bloat, assumed it was too much/too quickly and the lambs usually weren't interested in further feeds.  I've withheld the milk and from researching online given a syringe or two of vegetable oil, and so far it's worked like a treat.  I also read that warm bottle milk can predispose to it and feeding cold is better (although they do prefer warm!).

[juliem]

I always thought it was the Alan Bates character that stuck the knife in...thinking of the 1967 film.Have not seen the 2015 version yet..does it still show all those sheep being lost over the cliff.was haunted by that for days.

[Coastie]

Re FFTMC Juliem.  Yes, the shepherd is Gabriel Oaks who saves her sheep. All the farm scenes were filmed at Mapperton House in Dorset where I work. And no animals were injured in the making of the film  although the cliff scene is still there.  The new film is very different from the 60's Classic but it is interesting to compare them. Apologies for going off topic