A new one on me!

[Sir Loin]

OK, this is why I really decided to post.

In all my years, yesterday I saw something I have never seen before.

A neighbor called and asked me to stop by and look at a steer of his that went down.

When I arrived the steer was standing. Weight approx: 600 lbs.
Both back feet were broken off at the pasterns and dragging behind the legs when he walked. He was walking on the ends of his leg bone.

After I dispatched him to that great pasture in the sky, the question became, what caused this?
Nothing was found in the pasture that could have caused this kind of injury.

Brief anamal history.
This animal had three go rounds with pneumonia and was treated with antibiotics all 3 times.

Q. Have you ever heard of this happening?
Q. Could an overdose of antibiotics have caused this?

 

[john250]

Q. Have you ever heard of this happening?
Q. Could an overdose of antibiotics have caused this?

I've not seen one like that.
Do you suspect an overdose was given?
Antibiotics as a cause for that injury don't seem probable. Maybe someone else can elaborate.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Q. Have you ever heard of this happening?
Q. Could an overdose of antibiotics have caused this?

I've not seen one like that.
Do you suspect an overdose was given?
Antibiotics as a cause for that injury don't seem probable. Maybe someone else can elaborate.

I don't see antibotics either I have seen broken legs from crossing creeks and hanging them in tree roots in the wore down trails that they step over. I have had them kick a tractor and break a leg. That steer got caught or fell somehow IMO.

 

[cfpinz]

Caught in a cattleguard?

cfpinz

 

[Sir Loin]

Re: "Do you suspect an overdose was given? "

I was thinking more like, not as a single dose OD, but as a three time cumulatively OD over time.

It was just a thought I had, as I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to this new fangled doctoring.

One reason I don't like using medicines is the damn instructions on it are so damn small I can't read them!!

Can you read the dosage label on Probios?
How about in a dark old barn, at night? With a match.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Caught in a cattleguard?

cfpinz

That would do it.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Not a Medication in the world that would cause that type of problem.More likely he was caught in a Bear trap and chewed his hooves off.

 

[IL Rancher]

I've seen front legs so messed up that the give out like that and they walk on their "knees".. We got one like that the first year we were doing cattle. Sold him at the sale barn and he took a beating, lol... He was still light but I am sure he wouldn't have gotten past 500 pounds on those legs... Looked like a case of lupine poisoning but we don't have lupine. Talked to the vet about it when he was young.. Said he would grow out of it.. When we had maine bulls a lot of calves had real messed up front ends at birth but just about all grew out of it by 2-3 weeks... Mostly it was just weak tendons..

As far as legs breaking like that, he had to get them stuck somewhere..

 

[Sir Loin]

Nope, he doesn't have cattle guards!

The only other thing I can come up with is that he got run over by the tractor, or the mixer wheel.

OK I'm convinced; the answer has to be in the field.
Tomorrow I WILL find it!

(Light bulb just went on!)
homemade bulk feeder!!!!!!
Bet cha!
Made out of ole roadside guard rails!
Stay tuned!

 

[Matt S]

I didn't read all the replies, but I'd bet there's a homemade bulk feeder in that pasture that he got hung up on.

 

[Sir Loin]

OK folks, here we go.

I walked that entire lot, with the other 99 steers following me, and found absolutely nothing that would/could cause those kinds of injuries.
Not even the "homemade bulk feeder "showed any sign of being able to cause those injuries.

What I did find was a somewhat poorly drained lot, and we have been in our rainy season for the last month.
IMO, these cattle had to be in ankle deep mud for over 30 days, around the feeder.

The owner stated the steer seemed fine after his third round with pnemonia and medications.
But within 2 weeks he developed a limp in the left rear. After he noticed the limp, he then started walking stiff legged with his LR leg. He was kind of just dragging the whole leg.
Then the same thing happened to his right rear leg.
Said he could never really tell if the cause of the limp was the foot, ankle or hip.
(Well he knows now, doesn't he?)

I am convinced that a major physical injury did not cause this, other then maybe a minor injury that developed into foot rot.

Q. What do you think the odds are of 1 in 100 animals, under identical conditions, injuring both his rear feet at the same time resulting in foot rot?
Q. If one foot got foot rot, does/can foot rot migrate through the animal's body to the other rear leg?

Be damned if I know!
This is one for my book.

SL

 

[MikeC]

I have seen "fescue foot" make a cows hooves fall off, but never in a calf that young.

 

[milkmaid]

Footrot doesn't necessarily have to be caused by a severe injury; just a tiny cut or even no cut - just standing in "slop" all the time can cause it. Kind of doubt it's related to footrot though... perhaps he stepped in something (feeder, as mentioned), waterer, maybe through the fence? kind of an unusual injury though.

Did it look like a break where the bone was shattered? lots of blood? clean break?

MikeC -- 500-600lb calf could be 10 months, more or less, depending on how he was raised. I've never dealt with fescue poisoning before; what's the normal (minimum) age for problems?

 

[MikeC]

MikeC -- 500-600lb calf could be 10 months, more or less, depending on how he was raised. I've never dealt with fescue poisoning before; what's the normal (minimum) age for problems?

I don't think I've ever seen it in anything younger than 2-2 1/2 years.

Mostly older cows and bulls, especially when it gets cold.

I've only seen 6-8 cases of when the hoof falls off.

 

[Sir Loin]

Re: "Did it look like a break where the bone was shattered? lots of blood? clean break? "


To better answer your questions, if it isn't raining to hard tomorrow, I'm going to go over and dig him up and take a closer look.
When I dispatched him his legs and feet were covered with mud , so I couldn't really see much. As best I could see it looked like they separated at the joint and were only being held on by some ligaments and hide.

 

[tukie]

Well I am only coming from a human standard. I am a nurse, and I have seen allergic reactions in humans which destroy the calcium and cause fractures or bone deterioration....could be the same thing, however, if it is only ligament etc, it could go the same way in cows, but you would have seen it before it went......on the outside, open sores or swellings. I don't know...Poor thing.
T.

 

[Cowdirt]

Re: "Did it look like a break where the bone was shattered? lots of blood? clean break? "


To better answer your questions, if it isn't raining to hard tomorrow, I'm going to go over and dig him up and take a closer look.
When I dispatched him his legs and feet were covered with mud , so I couldn't really see much. As best I could see it looked like they separated at the joint and were only being held on by some ligaments and hide.

Believe I'd let him rest in peace. Doesn't sound like a fun job.

 

[Earl Thigpen]

My first guess would have been the cattle guard or something that looks like a cattle guard but if that's been ruled out .....?

This is just a shot in the dark but did the calf get tied up in some fence wire? I had a heifer get wrapped up in a fence and darned near cut her legs off before I could get her out. She had one front and one hind leg caught. It sure did some damage. She laid around for nearly two weeks before she got better.

 

[Sir Loin]

OK people, I dug the little booger up, cut off the legs just below the knees, washed them examined them and I still don't have a clue.
All I can tell you is, they came apart at the joints.

I guess I will just have to sign the death certificate as:
Manner of death: .357 magnum
Cause of death: unknown

 

[Dusty Britches]

OK people, I dug the little booger up, cut off the legs just below the knees, washed them examined them and I still don't have a clue.
All I can tell you is, they came apart at the joints.

I guess I will just have to sign the death certificate as:
Manner of death: .357 magnum
Cause of death: unknown

I'd say the cause of death was lead poisoning in the brain.

Definately an injury. Hung up, kicked, pick your choice. Several people have offered plausible therories. And just because you don't see damage to something doesn't mean it didn't cause the dislocation. Could be a gate, he kicked somehting with both feet, etc. Could be bad joints.