Calf No Tail

[Stamps Farms]

We want to know what caused our calf to be born without a tail? This was the cows second calf and we have never had any problems with the bull. The calf is not crossbred. Do we need to sell the cow and the calf? Will the calf be ok to keep and have her own calf?

 

[Chuck]

It happens. It will have a hard time switching flies and such with no tail. I would not keep her for a cow prospect, they really need a tail. Don't think there is anything likely wrong with the old cow,or the bull sometimes things just don't come out quite right. Like the calf in New Mexico a couple weeks ago with the extra leg. They will probably try to steal the calf at the salebarn, since she has no tail. You could eat her.

 

[jerry27150]

if you were in the sheep buisiness every now & again you would get a cyclops. freaks of nature

 

[flbullrider]

Guess she'd make an OK milker - all the ole diary cows I see run through the sale barn here have their tails removed...

Mike Bishop - http://www.flbullrider.com

 

[Gale Seddon]

I don't know about the tail-less calf, but I think the sheep/goat cyclops thing is due to the mother eating a certain plant within a certain time frame during the pregnancy....I work in a vet's office and answered a call from a client when a goat kid was born with this deformity...needless to say, the client was in a state of shock!

 

[stocky]

every once in a while there is a calf born with no tail---i wouldnt blame the mama or papa. if you raise a calf to butcher, it is a good candidate because they will knock the price hard for it at the barn. like they say, "gonna have to wholesale it, cause you can't RE-TAIL it.

 

[Farminlund]

every once in a while there is a calf born with no tail---i wouldnt blame the mama or papa. if you raise a calf to butcher, it is a good candidate because they will knock the price hard for it at the barn. like they say, "gonna have to wholesale it, cause you can't RE-TAIL it.

LOL :lol:

Did you make that one up just now or had you heard it before?

 

[stocky]

farminlund, i have to admit, i have heard it before---wish i was that original

 

[frenchie]

We want to know what caused our calf to be born without a tail? This was the cows second calf and we have never had any problems with the bull. The calf is not crossbred. Do we need to sell the cow and the calf? Will the calf be ok to keep and have her own calf?

The cow and the bull are not close related are they?

In the early nineties here a friend of mine bred some Simmental heifers to a half brother..Next spring he had quite a few tail less calves from that breeding.

 

[MoGal]

I wonder if perhaps she missed some minerals/vitamins during pregnancy.

I have a bottle calf that is blind, and no tail as well..... a black angus bull calf... we call him Ray Charles, "Charlie" for short.

You have to clean his butt at least daily with warm water and keep him sprayed for flies. What has amazed me the most is that another black baldie bottle calf goes up to him, puts his head over Charlies neck and guides him around ... it is really something to watch.

Charlie will have to be a butchering calf and I've already been told, "I can't eat Charlie"

 

[Brush Hog Girl]

Interestingly enough,this has been discussed here before.It is thought to be a genetic defect

 

[Linda]

And, sometimes the tail gets stepped on soon after the calf is born.

 

[Capt Call]

It is a genetic defect as rat tail, hairless in Herefords, some big word I can't remember.
What does getting the tail stepped on have to do with this?
Tail wasn't ripped off and a bloody stump was it?

 

[Linda]

It is a genetic defect as rat tail, hairless in Herefords, some big word I can't remember.
What does getting the tail stepped on have to do with this?
Tail wasn't ripped off and a bloody stump was it?

Sheesh, Capt Call! You sure jump to conclusions in a hurry.

"Congenital hypotrichosis" is the term you are looking for.

This calf might be a rat tail, or it might be missing part or most of its tail due to injury or frost. There's no way to tell from the original post.