Bloat in cattle

摘要

Abstract A method has been developed to investigate the release of plant cell contents resulting from the chewing of ingested herbage. Boli of chewed feed, collected as they are delivered through the cardia of cows with rumen fistulae, are subjected to gentle elution with water. Plant cell contents found in the eluate are regarded as Iiberated from the cells ruptured during chewing. The relative rate of release of soluble plant protein and of chloroplastic material from cut red cIover has been measured, and its relation to the occurrence of bloat is considered. The use of dry matter as a marker for estimating the proportions of feed and saliva in bolus sampies is discussed in the Appendix.