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calf with front feet turned under

T

TN cowpoke

Member
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
19
Location
southern middle TN
Good evening to all fellow rancher.net friends. I don't post often but I do visit this site every evening and have found that there are alot of very knowledgable cattle people on this web page. The problem that I have ran into is a day old bull calf with his feet turned under. This is the first time that I have had this happen . I need advice on the best way to help this lttle dude get straightened out. His condition is not as bad as some that I have seen pictures of and he seems to have nursed his mama pretty good so far. A couple of guys that I know both said to just leave him alone for a couple of days and he may straighten out on his on. I don't want to wait too late to try and do something though. I only have sixty five cows and twenty seven of them have calved already with no problems to speak of (knock on wood). I need to get this little one taken care of and keep rolling along the rest of the way through calving. Thanks in advance for any help or advice that anyone may have. Clay, in southern middle TN
 
Yep-- I'd just leave them- they usually come out of it in a few days...I had someone tell me its often because of the way they were curled up to tight in the womb...I know it often happens with the bigger dummy calves anyway.....
I had one last year that went a week or so before they got really strong- but then he was as good as the rest....
 
I agree with OT. I've gone so far as to cast them or splint them but it seems to work best to just leave them alone. If theyre really bad you may have to get them up several times a day and keep them up until they fold over again.
I've had similar problems with foals in the past, and if caught in the first few hours the vet gave Liquimiacin (I believe..... maybe it was penicillin either way, I wouldn't try it myself) directly into the jugular. Results were spectacular and I've wondered if the same strategy would work on calves.
 
We usually splint them, even though alot of people say no. We'd only leave them on for a couple of days, and the calf would be as good as new.
 
It was about 5-6 years ago and i had this little 45-50 pound calf out of a 1400 pound cow. He was just a little bugger and his front feet were curled back. I was hoping he was gonna come out of it. I got momma in the head gate and let him suck for awhile. He was a go getter once he figured it out. It front feet would absolutely not move. It was like they were grown that way. You could try to bend them but they just wouldnt bend. I didnt know what the deal was with this calf.

Also FH,
About that same time frame i bought 2 purebred angus pairs at a dispersion sale and both calves had clef pallet. I bought the cows and got the calves free pretty much. I had never seen a thing and the next year i just happend to have a clef pallet calf out of one my raised cows at home. It was weird to buy those never knowing anything about it and the next year have one. The one that i calved out myself was a twin and the momma raised both calves great and the clef pallet fit in just fine. I always thought it was just a genetic disorder.
 
Aways just left em alone they walked straight in day or two.Was this calf pulled or calf on its own?Sometimes a hard pull will hurt the feet but i would still not worry about it
 
If it can nurse and get about....leave it alone. 99% of the time they work themselves out fine without your help.

Sometimes the best intentions/intervention on your part can do major DAMAGE.


Give it time.
 
Pretty good advice here. We also make sure they get their vitamin ade shot at birth, and have lots of minerals available. They seem to straighten out pretty well on their own.

Just a note about what Silver said about the colt. The vet wouldn't have used penicillin IV. That will kill an animal. It must have been something else. I'd like to know what the vet thought the problem was, that antibiotics worked so well. :? I've never heard of this being done. I have a friend who raises Warmblood horses, and being such big fast growers, they usually blame contracted tendons on dietary and mineral imbalances.
 
Kato said:
Pretty good advice here. We also make sure they get their vitamin ade shot at birth, and have lots of minerals available. They seem to straighten out pretty well on their own.

Just a note about what Silver said about the colt. The vet wouldn't have used penicillin IV. That will kill an animal. It must have been something else. I'd like to know what the vet thought the problem was, that antibiotics worked so well. :? I've never heard of this being done. I have a friend who raises Warmblood horses, and being such big fast growers, they usually blame contracted tendons on dietary and mineral imbalances.
Click to expand...

It was definitely injected directly into the jugular, and definitely an antibiotic..... and liquimiacin is the first thing that comes to mind for some reason. If done in the first few hours the result is that the tendons relax. Dont ask me why.... just a happy side affect I guess.
Kinda like takin' yer gas lantern pump out to cure the cow with milk fever. Seems a little bizarre, but the results speak for themselves.


As I think about it.... I'm now sure it was oxytetracycline (basicly what we us for scours). But youv'e got me second guessing myself now about where it was injected :oops:
 
Silver said:
Kato said:
Pretty good advice here. We also make sure they get their vitamin ade shot at birth, and have lots of minerals available. They seem to straighten out pretty well on their own.

Just a note about what Silver said about the colt. The vet wouldn't have used penicillin IV. That will kill an animal. It must have been something else. I'd like to know what the vet thought the problem was, that antibiotics worked so well. :? I've never heard of this being done. I have a friend who raises Warmblood horses, and being such big fast growers, they usually blame contracted tendons on dietary and mineral imbalances.
Click to expand...

It was definitely injected directly into the jugular, and definitely an antibiotic..... and liquimiacin is the first thing that comes to mind for some reason. If done in the first few hours the result is that the tendons relax. Dont ask me why.... just a happy side affect I guess.
Kinda like takin' yer gas lantern pump out to cure the cow with milk fever. Seems a little bizarre, but the results speak for themselves.


As I think about it.... I'm now sure it was oxytetracycline (basicly what we us for scours). But youv'e got me second guessing myself now about where it was injected :oops:
Click to expand...

LA 100 is supposed to be given IV, so I believe you said it right :)
 
I have had several calves with the problem over the years. Several years back I made some splints out of some old conveyor belting or may be it was some baler belting. I cut a pattern in it and wrapped it around the hoof and the duct taped it. Works great, have reused it a couple times. Just don't leave it on to long, cause your won't be able to catch the calf.
 
A post by a knowledgable lady that raised bottle fed dairy calves said it was caused by in utero navel infection. She cleared it up by mixing antibiotic in the milk pail. If I remember right she said she used lincomycin. But I do remember that the antibiotic is not one commonly used for cattle. You need to find out from a vet what to use because liquimvcin may not be the best choice.
 
Anyone ever had the problem with both joints on the front feet? Had a calf from a heifer yesterday morning. Front legs are curled so bad he can't stand up. Natural birth with no pull. The legs look normal other than the fact that the joints won't let the legs straighten out.
 

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