The application of an external field (magnetic or electric) to suspensions of particles in a carrier liquid often causes a dramatic increase in the flow resistance. The transient stress response of these systems during the start-up of shear flow was studied as a function of the shear rate, using a system of carbonyl iron particles dispersed in paraffinic spindle oil under magnetic flux densities up to 0.57 T. It was found that initially the stress increased in proportion to the applied strain, reaching a plateau value at a characteristic strain of 0.2. Similar strain dependence of the transient stress behaviour was observed for shear rates spanning the range 0.01 s(-1) to 10 s(-1), suggesting that strain-governed deformation and rupture of the particle aggregates in the fluid was the main contribution to the response. In addition, the steady state flow curves of these fluids were obtained over the shear rate range 0.1 to 100 s(-1).