A study was made of the frequency of bloat in steer calves on full feed sired by 13 purebred Hereford bulls used in 2 successive years at the U. S. Range Livestock Experiment Station, Miles City, Montana. A significant difference in number of steers showing excessive bloat was observed between the progeny of various bulls in one year. An analysis based on the number of steer days showed that a highly significant difference existed between progeny groups in both years in the frequency of bloat. These results indicate that there are inherent differences between the progeny of different bulls in ability to handle large quantities of feed without digestive disturbances, and indicate the possibility of improvement in this characteristic by selection on the basis of progeny tests.
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Knapp et al. (1943) studied this question.