ABSTRACT
The primary effect of those additives is to change the microbial population in the rumen so that fermentation of the diet is shifted to produce end products that are more efficiently used by the animal. The discovery of Rumensin, which resulted from a remarkable coalescence of knowledge about rumen function, must be considered one of the most important achievements benefiting animal production. The bloat scores for a treatment period were compared with the bloat scores of the previous control period. Both drugs reduced the degree of bloat, with the greatest reduction at the end of each drug treatment period. Lasalocid was more effective than monensin in reducing the degree of grain bloat. The ionophores also seem to prevent acidosis. Nagaraja and Bartley found that both lasalocid and monensin prevented experimentally induced lactic acidosis. One specific program involves using the big, round bales, unground, to reduce equipment investment in small feedlots.
