Blind cow

[Ky hills]

The disaster of cows we bought the other night keeps coming.
Out of the two remaining cows, one just doesn't seem to be doing well. Seems slow. We thought she acted odd, in several instances, like refusing to go out of the head gate. She seems at a loss when not with other cattle to follow.
Tonight was trying to drive a calf to the corner of the lot for scour pill, and this cow keeps on going after the other cow and her own calf turned back. She walked into the other calf and then once in the corner when I was trying to cut her out she kept walking into the fence and I realized she may be blind or at least partly blind.
She doesn't appear to have scarring on her eyes. She holds her head down and walks slow. But seems to know where the other cow is and eventually goes to the other one and eats along side of her.
I noticed the night we loaded her she was hard to load was the last cow on and didn't want to step up.

 

[kenny thomas]

Good thing is as long as the other cow is with her she will follow it and do ok.

 

[gcreekrch]

You mean she don't look too good. Hamburger Helper when calf is weaned.

 

[rocket2222]

Was that one of the Hereford marked cows. If so this maybe of some interest. I received this in the mail a couple weeks ago from the American Hereford Assoc.

November 21, 2023 To the Membership of the American Hereford Association: The American Hereford Association (AHA), in collaboration with Dr. David Steffen and Dr. Jessica Petersen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), have discovered a novel defect in Hereford cattle called Delayed Blindness (DB). This genetic defect is considered autosomal recessive, meaning an affected calf must have two carrier parents. The AHA has received information from members over the last few years about cattle that appeared to be blind. Per AHA rules these cases were referred to Dr. Steffen at UNL for diagnosis. In each case, the animal had no apparent deficit in vision as a calf, with indications of vision loss being noted at approximately 9-12 months of age. In a novel setting, the cattle had difficulty navigating their surroundings and would bump into stationary objects. An in-depth ophthalmologic evaluation of suspected to be blind confirmed retinal degeneration, lack of a menace responsive (reaction to something being moved toward the eye), and little to no response to light stimuli as determined by an electroretinogram (ERG). The clinical evaluations confirmed blindness in each case. Blind animals were reported in several different herds across multiple regions of the U.S. Pedigree records demonstrated a common sire in the pedigree of both the sire and dam of each affected animal, suggesting a new deleterious recessive genetic variant might be to blame for blindness in these cattle. Utilizing whole-genome sequencing, the UNL research team identified a mutation in each blind Hereford consistent with a recessive mode of inheritance. Researchers then developed a single-marker assay to genotype additional animals to validate the result. Genotyping of additional animals identified other Hereford cattle that were homozygous for the variant. Upon investigation, those animals were confirmed to be blind, supporting the identified variant as causative of the condition. The gene in which the mutation was identified is known to be important to retinal health and function. In humans, mutations in the same gene lead to similar clinical observations and progressive blindness. Importantly, this condition is not associated with the amount of pigment around the eyes; the appearance of the eyes is normal (they do not become cloudy or white). However, researchers believe that the blind animals are at a greater risk of injuring their eyes due to difficulty navigating their environment. Carriers of the mutation appear to be healthy. AHA and the UNL worked with Neogen® to develop a commercially available test so breeders can submit DNA for testing or test previously submitted samples on file at the AHA. This test is a standalone test. It is not part of any current genotype panels used to test animals. The cost of the DB standalone test is $20. If DB is ordered in conjunction with a genomic profile the add-on charge will be $13. The AHA suggests first testing impacted pedigrees in order to help identify breaks in transmission through the pedigree. Currently, breeders should expect typical turnaround time for genotyping when submitting for DB testing. To aid in determining which animals to test, breeders can utilize the "potential carrier" search tool in MyHerd. It is located under the DNA tab on the MyHerd search platform. Simply login into your MyHerd account and you will have search access to your active registered animals and dams under the owner tab. It is important to realize that the MyHerd search is a real-time platform, therefore, the AHA recommends breeders run the search periodically over the next couple months as pedigree relationships will be broken as more animals are tested and identified as either carriers or free from the condition, which could implicate animals in other herds. Breeders can find animals that have been tested for DB at https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List. The AHA is publishing 12 animals that have been identified as affected for DB in the cases submitted to UNL for research. These 12 animals are listed below and will be identified on https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List as Delayed Blindness Affected (DBA).​

​

​

​

In research of identifying where the mutation occurred, the three animals below have been tested as being free for DB and consequently will be listed as Delayed Blindness Free (DBF) on https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List. ​

Sincerely,​

Jack Ward Executive Vice President American Hereford Association​ Shane Bedwell COO and Director of Breed Improvement American Hereford Association​

 

[redcowsrule33]

To think that the defect had been present since at least 1995 and some very influential bulls as carriers. Yikes.

 

[Ky hills]

I'd been thinking the cow was sick by her walking with her head low and moving so slow. I've got the new cows and calves separated in a lot from the other cattle and plan in keeping it that way especially now with this blind one until we can pound her out after getting her calf weaned.
The lot they are in has a small side door opening into a barn shed. It's a big step up for cattle, even though I've got some concrete blocks to give them a step,
The two cows had gotten separated this morning with the good cow already in the barn, I called the blind cow and she came towards where I was there in the door way of the barn. She walks real slow with her head down and nose pointed out. When she bumps into something she moves over and tries again. She didn't find the door on her own.
It's taken me a while to figure out she's blind. I'm sure she followed the other cows when offloaded at the stockyards and the workers were probably like me they never caught it. I believe whoever sold her knew it and deliberately nested her in a group. They probably originally bought her for next to nothing and then made money by selling her like that to an idiot like me.

 

[Warren Allison]

I'd been thinking the cow was sick by her walking with her head low and moving so slow. I've got the new cows and calves separated in a lot from the other cattle and plan in keeping it that way especially now with this blind one until we can pound her out after getting her calf weaned.
The lot they are in has a small side door opening into a barn shed. It's a big step up for cattle, even though I've got some concrete blocks to give them a step,
The two cows had gotten separated this morning with the good cow already in the barn, I called the blind cow and she came towards where I was there in the door way of the barn. She walks real slow with her head down and nose pointed out. When she bumps into something she moves over and tries again. She didn't find the door on her own.
It's taken me a while to figure out she's blind. I'm sure she followed the other cows when offloaded at the stockyards and the workers were probably like me they never caught it. I believe whoever sold her knew it and deliberately nested her in a group. They probably originally bought her for next to nothing and then made money by selling her like that to an idiot like me.

I disagree! You are not an idiot.....far from it! I have asked your advice or opinion quite a few times on here, and I am not in the habit of asking idiots for either. And I am not the only member on here that thinks you are very knowledgeable cattleman., and values your input. So you had a run of bad luck with those cows and your Simm bull. You stay in this business and you will have some more. Some times, bad things just happen to good people. @Jeanne - Simme Valley had some bad luck with that calf the other day, and there ain't nobody can say she is an idiot! Though y'all's prgrams are very different, anyone who reads these forums knows that you both study..and think.. and do the very best y'all can do, by your cattle. Sometimes, despite all of our best efforts, we get thrown a curve ball that we can't hit. Hindsight is 20/20, and Monday morning quarterbacks always call the correct play. An idiot would not try to understand if they made a mistake. No, they would try to blame anybody and everybody else, rather than analyze what happened to try to find away to avoid it next time. And if you find that you might have made a mistake...thats ok. But, I gotta ask you not to call my friend KYhills an idiot no more! Ya hear?!!

 

[Ky hills]

I disagree! You are not an idiot.....far from it! I have asked your advice or opinion quite a few times on here, and I am not in the habit of asking idiots for either. And I am not the only member on here that thinks you are very knowledgeable cattleman., and values your input. So you had a run of bad luck with those cows and your Simm bull. You stay in this business and you will have some more. Some times, bad things just happen to good people. @Jeanne - Simme Valley had some bad luck with that calf the other day, and there ain't nobody can say she is an idiot! Though y'all's prgrams are very different, anyone who reads these forums knows that you both study..and think.. and do the very best y'all can do, by your cattle. Sometimes, despite all of our best efforts, we get thrown a curve ball that we can't hit. Hindsight is 20/20, and Monday morning quarterbacks always call the correct play. An idiot would not try to understand if they made a mistake. No, they would try to blame anybody and everybody else, rather than analyze what happened to try to find away to avoid it next time. And if you find that you might have made a mistake...thats ok. But, I gotta ask you not to call my friend KYhills an indiot no more! Ya hear?!!

Thanks for the vote of confidence Warren I appreciate it.

 

[coachg]

With no pinkeye scaring or obvious signs of blindness that's an honest mistake. I'd keep her with other cows in a small pasture where she can find water and not injure herself . She definitely needs to go to slaughter when you ready for her to go .

 

[farmerjan]

Do your best for her. We had a calf that must have been born 95% blind.... realized it when they were out to pasture that summer... she got around good considering and when we brought her back to the barn with the cows to wean, she got put in a small lot of 1/2 acre or so with another that got pinkeye real bad and went blind even with several treatments... they learned where the trough was, the waterer, the hay... and they got along okay. Were killed for beef. Familiar surroundings will help her along with the other cow to follow... and when she is done with her job, the kindest thing would be hamburger for her.
Considering the aforementioned article, I would not keep any of the offspring of any of them.....

I think it was a very honest mistake, and anyone can make that sort of mistake. Have we made a few on bought animals... more than I want to think about... buried several.... it's part of it... I don't think it makes you stupid.

 

[Travlr]

I'd been thinking the cow was sick by her walking with her head low and moving so slow. I've got the new cows and calves separated in a lot from the other cattle and plan in keeping it that way especially now with this blind one until we can pound her out after getting her calf weaned.
The lot they are in has a small side door opening into a barn shed. It's a big step up for cattle, even though I've got some concrete blocks to give them a step,
The two cows had gotten separated this morning with the good cow already in the barn, I called the blind cow and she came towards where I was there in the door way of the barn. She walks real slow with her head down and nose pointed out. When she bumps into something she moves over and tries again. She didn't find the door on her own.
It's taken me a while to figure out she's blind. I'm sure she followed the other cows when offloaded at the stockyards and the workers were probably like me they never caught it. I believe whoever sold her knew it and deliberately nested her in a group. They probably originally bought her for next to nothing and then made money by selling her like that to an idiot like me.

That was four cows you bought together, wasn't it? Already lost two? Now one is blind?

Don't beat yourself up. There a lost of mistakes made at the sale barn and everyone that buys there will eventually run into one... or more. Learn and move on, I guess. Still... it's tough.

 

[wbvs58]

Was that one of the Hereford marked cows. If so this maybe of some interest. I received this in the mail a couple weeks ago from the American Hereford Assoc.

November 21, 2023 To the Membership of the American Hereford Association: The American Hereford Association (AHA), in collaboration with Dr. David Steffen and Dr. Jessica Petersen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), have discovered a novel defect in Hereford cattle called Delayed Blindness (DB). This genetic defect is considered autosomal recessive, meaning an affected calf must have two carrier parents. The AHA has received information from members over the last few years about cattle that appeared to be blind. Per AHA rules these cases were referred to Dr. Steffen at UNL for diagnosis. In each case, the animal had no apparent deficit in vision as a calf, with indications of vision loss being noted at approximately 9-12 months of age. In a novel setting, the cattle had difficulty navigating their surroundings and would bump into stationary objects. An in-depth ophthalmologic evaluation of suspected to be blind confirmed retinal degeneration, lack of a menace responsive (reaction to something being moved toward the eye), and little to no response to light stimuli as determined by an electroretinogram (ERG). The clinical evaluations confirmed blindness in each case. Blind animals were reported in several different herds across multiple regions of the U.S. Pedigree records demonstrated a common sire in the pedigree of both the sire and dam of each affected animal, suggesting a new deleterious recessive genetic variant might be to blame for blindness in these cattle. Utilizing whole-genome sequencing, the UNL research team identified a mutation in each blind Hereford consistent with a recessive mode of inheritance. Researchers then developed a single-marker assay to genotype additional animals to validate the result. Genotyping of additional animals identified other Hereford cattle that were homozygous for the variant. Upon investigation, those animals were confirmed to be blind, supporting the identified variant as causative of the condition. The gene in which the mutation was identified is known to be important to retinal health and function. In humans, mutations in the same gene lead to similar clinical observations and progressive blindness. Importantly, this condition is not associated with the amount of pigment around the eyes; the appearance of the eyes is normal (they do not become cloudy or white). However, researchers believe that the blind animals are at a greater risk of injuring their eyes due to difficulty navigating their environment. Carriers of the mutation appear to be healthy. AHA and the UNL worked with Neogen® to develop a commercially available test so breeders can submit DNA for testing or test previously submitted samples on file at the AHA. This test is a standalone test. It is not part of any current genotype panels used to test animals. The cost of the DB standalone test is $20. If DB is ordered in conjunction with a genomic profile the add-on charge will be $13. The AHA suggests first testing impacted pedigrees in order to help identify breaks in transmission through the pedigree. Currently, breeders should expect typical turnaround time for genotyping when submitting for DB testing. To aid in determining which animals to test, breeders can utilize the "potential carrier" search tool in MyHerd. It is located under the DNA tab on the MyHerd search platform. Simply login into your MyHerd account and you will have search access to your active registered animals and dams under the owner tab. It is important to realize that the MyHerd search is a real-time platform, therefore, the AHA recommends breeders run the search periodically over the next couple months as pedigree relationships will be broken as more animals are tested and identified as either carriers or free from the condition, which could implicate animals in other herds. Breeders can find animals that have been tested for DB at https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List. The AHA is publishing 12 animals that have been identified as affected for DB in the cases submitted to UNL for research. These 12 animals are listed below and will be identified on https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List as Delayed Blindness Affected (DBA).​

​

​

​

In research of identifying where the mutation occurred, the three animals below have been tested as being free for DB and consequently will be listed as Delayed Blindness Free (DBF) on https://www.myherd.org/web/USHF/AnimalSearch/List.​

Sincerely,​

Jack Ward Executive Vice President American Hereford Association​ Shane Bedwell COO and Director of Breed Improvement American Hereford Association​

Well here's another genetic defect for Travlr to climb all over. Or will he? It is not Angus.

Ken

 

[Ky hills]

@farmerjan @coachg y'all are right, we're going to keep them up in a small lot. She was out in the rain by herself and wife and I went out and got the other cow outside with her and finally got her in the barn, Poor cow didn't keep up with the other one and ended back up alone trying to find the door. We tried just talking regular voice when she'd get close to us to kind of try to direct her.
Tried to be slow and just let her ease along so she wouldn't get moving fast and hurt herself if she walked into anything. She went into the fence a couple times and I think when we got her turned around and she bumped into the side of the shed she must have kind of known she was close she took a few steps over and went up into the barn.
I fed them some baled hay and feed in a trough. I tried to ease her over to the trough and she walked into the barn wall, then turned and walked into my hand. She then walked into the other cow and walked with her head along the other cow till she reached the trough. I think she knew the cow was eating and knew to find it that way.
From the way she steps up that high step into the barn, it leads me to believe that she has been a traded cow several times and used to stepping up.
The other cow is I believe a good cow with plenty of milk, but y'all are right I'm not keeping any of those calves and probably not even the good cow.

@Travlr yeah it's the same cows.

@wbvs58 Herefords have plenty of genetic defects too.

 

[Travlr]

Well here's another genetic defect for Travlr to climb all over. Or will he? It is not Angus.

Ken

LOL... Well maybe that's why it's so rarely seen...

 

[bird dog]

If you are going to keep her and her friend separate from the herd, get her trained to follow a rattling bucket of cubes. It will make her much easier to load as well.

 

[farmerjan]

Our 2 blind ones would come when we called as they knew it meant feed... they got good at knowing their surroundings and hardly ever walked into anything... the one could see some shadows I think.... but I would never have taken them to the stockyard... that's pretty mean. See some feeders occasionally, and it makes me so mad... usually pinkeye cases that didn't get treated or too late treated... I sometimes want to bring them home to just feed and fatten and give them a decent life for a little while.
Hope she can figure it out with the other cow.... bless you for being so kind and understanding to her plight.

 

[Little Joe]

@Ky hills, when I was in votech, our instructor told us not to get bent out of shape over mistakes and to just learn from them. He said "there are only 2 kinds of people who don't make mistakes, those who are dead and those who ain't doing anything and the more you do the more mistakes you'll make, just learn from them". That was over 20 years ago but I remind myself of his motto all of the time and repeat it to the people who work for me.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

We gain experience from our mistakes. We also gain knowledge from others that share
their experiences.

 

[Ky hills]

Thanks y'all. When I saw those cows and calves come in the ring, I knew they looked thin but their tails were clean I thought they may just have been on slim pickings food wise. Just have a few seconds to decide and I thought I could worm and work then and feed them and have calves to sell back in a few months.
I've bought a few thin cows before with no health issues. So I really wasn't even thinking about that. Had it been 500 pound calves I would have been more keenly looking for signs of sickness.
Some trader got me good. He's probably laughing all the way to the bank. That's on him. We are like most other people we try and when something like this happens it hurts financially. We will recover and move on.
We've both been pretty angry over the blind cow being nested in the group.
We feel bad for her and are going to try to make the best of the situation for now.
Eventually when her calf is sold we will sell her and sell her the right way which is by the pound. The buyers will know she is blind and we will have lost money on that deal for sure.
I like to be brutally honest in my dealings as I want to be known as somebody that does the right thing. I care about others as well as my reputation. I've lost a lot of money that way, but I'd rather have a clear conscience. and be able to sleep at night.
It really angers me when people have no morals or scruples and literally try to deceive others. Unfortunately there are plenty of those folks around and it gives all of us in the cattle business a bad name when their practices come to light.
I maintain that the vast majority of cattle people try to do things right and it's a shame that a few bad actors are always around.

 

[Logan52]

I wish I could say I have always been as open in the marketing of cattle as you state in your post above.
My natural inclination is to talk too much and tell all I know, even when it hurts financially. But I have to fight a propensity to exaggerate. I do not think I have ever purposely misled.
Sometimes I have taken stock to be sold, informed those in charge of my worries of some problem, and sat silently in the audience while they are sold with no disclaimer. I felt bad and worried the damage to my reputation was a worse loss than the few extra dollars I gained.
I think you are being too hard on yourself. Marketing cattle at auction is a rough sport at best and we all learn from our mistakes.
I think your plan out of the situation is the right one and a good deal awaits in the future if you do not get too down on yourself.