Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Health & Nutrition
Bottle calf! Some say I'm crazy...
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="J Hoy" data-source="post: 1767051" data-attributes="member: 16398"><p>Good observation on the pug nosed appearance, Murray. The reason a calf has an underbite is because the premaxillary bone is underdeveloped. That causes the premaxillary bone to be</p><p></p><p></p><p>short and narrow, which makes the calf's muzzle point somewhat upward rather than straight forward. Even a slight underbite affects a bovine's ability to bite off foliage. Thus, cattle with an underbite usually do not gain weight like cattle with a normal bite, causing the livestock owners to get less money when they sell them. Buck Randall, all the yearling cattle that I examined to try to determine prevalence of underbite in our area were Angus, except for three longhorns. The prevalence was over 50%, but all the examined heads were from calves born in 2008 and the prevalence of underbite changes from year to year. Also, a rancher who raised Angus cattle told me that about one third of their calves were born with an underbite, but that was in 2001. Underbite prevalence here has gone down since 2014. No one that I know of here "selects" against it. Underdeveloped bones, facial or other bones is caused by disrupted uptake of minerals, especially calcium. The developing fetuses are exposed in the womb to something that disrupts normal bone growth, so pregnant females with a normal bite can have calves with an underbite. There is no way to "select" against that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J Hoy, post: 1767051, member: 16398"] Good observation on the pug nosed appearance, Murray. The reason a calf has an underbite is because the premaxillary bone is underdeveloped. That causes the premaxillary bone to be short and narrow, which makes the calf's muzzle point somewhat upward rather than straight forward. Even a slight underbite affects a bovine's ability to bite off foliage. Thus, cattle with an underbite usually do not gain weight like cattle with a normal bite, causing the livestock owners to get less money when they sell them. Buck Randall, all the yearling cattle that I examined to try to determine prevalence of underbite in our area were Angus, except for three longhorns. The prevalence was over 50%, but all the examined heads were from calves born in 2008 and the prevalence of underbite changes from year to year. Also, a rancher who raised Angus cattle told me that about one third of their calves were born with an underbite, but that was in 2001. Underbite prevalence here has gone down since 2014. No one that I know of here "selects" against it. Underdeveloped bones, facial or other bones is caused by disrupted uptake of minerals, especially calcium. The developing fetuses are exposed in the womb to something that disrupts normal bone growth, so pregnant females with a normal bite can have calves with an underbite. There is no way to "select" against that. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Health & Nutrition
Bottle calf! Some say I'm crazy...
Top