Calf has broken leg

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TJCattle

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We found our one day old heifer with her back left leg broken at the lower cannon bone. Don't know how it happened-kicked, stepped on, ???. We tried to splint it with stiff carpet and duct tape. It stayed on for 2 days. Don't want to keep stressing her & mom by replacing it. After 1 week she's seems to be getting around & eating ok. Should we worry about it? Will she be able to carry her own weight? Be breedable? Any ideas??
 
TJCattle":2exiyjfb said:
We found our one day old heifer with her back left leg broken at the lower cannon bone. Don't know how it happened-kicked, stepped on, ???. We tried to splint it with stiff carpet and duct tape. It stayed on for 2 days. Don't want to keep stressing her & mom by replacing it. After 1 week she's seems to be getting around & eating ok. Should we worry about it? Will she be able to carry her own weight? Be breedable? Any ideas??

They will usually heal. We have taken them to the vet to get them casted, and usually they are just fine. If she is getting around, and it is healing straight you might get away with leaving her, but she could reinjure it easily so it would be best for it to be splinted at the very least. If it heals well, she should be just fine, and you could keep her for breeding.
 
catch her and her momma and put them in a small lot or stable. less walking for the calf to do and she won't be an easy target for predators
 
i have had several new borns to break legs over the years and the best cast ,homemade that is, pvc pipe cut the legnth you need from either 1and a half or 2 inch pipe split it with a saw and use one half and tape tight to leg .if u use both sides on the front and back of leg it will slip,
 
small calves like that i usually just leave alone if they can manage. maybe pen her and mom up to keep her from walkingon it so much and to keep mom from wandering too far off.

We once had a coming yearling heifer get run over with a tractor at feeding time and broke her front leg. like it was dangling. vet came out, looked at her, said keep her penned up for X amounts of days. sure enough she healed on her own. made a good cow too for many years until she came up open once.
 

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