Though the idea of treating bloated farm animals by way of a bloat needle is nothing new, a video of the device in action as it fires off the methane gas just like a typical gas flaring does, is not something you must have seen.
Animals can become bloated when they graze on young, lush pasture, particularly if the pasture has high legume content (clover, medics or lucerne). After grazing, ruminant animals produce large volumes of gas such as carbon dioxide and methane during its normal stages of digestion, and the gas is either belched up or passes through the gastrointestinal tract.
However, in some cases, a digestive disorder can result when the animal becomes bloated from the accumulation of excessive gas within the rumen, which in some cases, can result in the death of the animal by suffocation.
