Clover & Bloat

_Brian

Was wondering about overseeding silage paddocks with white clover seed as is the recommendation now to diversify the swarth and hopefully reduce fertiliser costs.. But the question of bloat is in my mind.. We are dairy beef and bloat isnt a massive problem but it does happen and can be a total pain.. HAve folks seen much increase in incidences after increasing clover in swarths ??

funkey_monkey

I think you can get something (anti bloating agent) to put in the water if you are setup that way.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058287552/clover-bloat

Never had an issue with it, your only going to be adding white clover to an existing sward. Ive heard of bloat happening a bit in dairy farms alright, but I think it's mainly because of the ryegrass monoculture and introducing clover to the diet might come as a bit of a shock. But over seeding will gradually bring it into the sward I'd say you'd be fine.

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120339737#Comment_120339737

Were rearing sucks from dairy herds so we see a bit most years... just dont want to be swamped either..

DBK1

CBDDD9E5-0896-4856-AAD1-F94B0A55EC3F.jpeg

I’ve grazed continentals and bucket reared dairy stock on the grass in the picture with no problems with bloat.

One of the most important things to do is don’t let them into it hungry. If that means the paddock they come off isn’t grazed out fully then so be it. If they come into clover hungry they’ll gorge on it and you will have bloat. Let them in full and they pick at it and gives them time to adjust.

There’s a serious thrive off it, especially for continentals. I’ve finished continentals on that grass and had them kill out at 61 and 62% of their yard weight.

blue5000

Cooking oil in the water trough is supposed to prevent bloat. As DBK says above no problem if you move them in before they are really hungry.