Calf with bulging eyes

[pdoramus]

My husband brought home a new born holstein calf from the sale yard a couple of days ago. I called the owner and she said the mother was healthy and would have gone to the dairy sale earlier in the week if she hadn't dropped her calf early.

It is healthy in every way and eats like crazy. It's eyes seem to bug out some so that you can see the whites of the eye most of the time.

Can the stress of a difficult birth cause this? Any other ideas? Will they return to normal? They were dripping a little so I have been putting some terramycin eye cream in them a couple of times a day. Thanks for the info.

 

[cfpinz]

ummmmmmmmmmmmm if both eyes were watering and the whiteness was in the white of the eye and the eye was swollen and bulged out I would say the dairyman lied to you and sold that calf cuz its mom and it both probably had ibr and she carried this one to term and it somehow made it. I would get rid of this calf as soon as possible. First I would consult a vet and if it was IBR its gonna cost you more to treat it than that little calf is worth in my opinion. IN the mean time if you have other calves isolate this one from them.

That's an awful big conclusion to jump to. We've had a few bug-eyed calves, turned out just fine. Some calves are just bug-eyed, like some people. If it's not troubling the calf, leave it alone.

cfpinz

 

[holly heifer]

:shock: had one like that- they were really buggy! He did grow into them( sorta) but he netted a hefty price when he was sold as a feeder calf.( he too was a bottle calf)

 

[dun]

Had one last year. She alwasy looked surprised her eyes bugged so bad. Went to the feedlot and never had any eye or health problems. Grew out as well as ony of the others.

dun

 

[Alice]

We've gotten lots of bug eyed calves from the sale barn. One was so bug eyed we called it Marty for Marty Feldman.

My question to you is... how did you find out who the calf belonged to in the first place if you got the calf from the sale barn?

Alice

 

[shorty]

I have no idea what could cause it , we had one born in spring like that but he soon outgrew it.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I have a yearling Jersey heifer who is a bit bug-eyed. She always has been. Never been a problem, its just her way.

Katherine

 

[pdoramus]

We've gotten lots of bug eyed calves from the sale barn. One was so bug eyed we called it Marty for Marty Feldman.

My question to you is... how did you find out who the calf belonged to in the first place if you got the calf from the sale barn?

Alice

Alice,
When I pay for the calves at the sale barn, I always ask for the name and location of the previous owners incase I have questions about treatments, vitamins, bo-se, etc. When I get home I use yellowbook.com on the internet and it gives me the phone number. All you need is the name, city and state. I've only called a few owners, but I did call this one.

I agree with most of you. The calf seems happy and hungry all the time. He's eating a handful of starter and kicking his heals up when we let him out to run. Hope he grows into them a little, but it doesn't bother him or me now. :lol: Thanks for the info.

 

[sjr725]

I have a holstein x steer now that looks like that - got him just off the bottle and he's about 900 now - to compound matters, he has a real undershot jaw - so you can see his teeth - we call him "Smiley" - he eats just fine and I'm sure he'll taste just fine too!
I always buy a dozen or so of these steers every year - they're my pocket money projects! There is a dairy near me that breeds all it's 1st calf holstien heifers to small beef bulls and I've bought those cross bred calves for years - mmmmm mmmm good!

 

[Alice]

I have a holstein x steer now that looks like that - got him just off the bottle and he's about 900 now - to compound matters, he has a real undershot jaw - so you can see his teeth - we call him "Smiley" - he eats just fine and I'm sure he'll taste just fine too!
I always buy a dozen or so of these steers every year - they're my pocket money projects! There is a dairy near me that breeds all it's 1st calf holstien heifers to small beef bulls and I've bought those cross bred calves for years - mmmmm mmmm good!

Hmmmm, sounds like a handsome lad...

We've had some we called "crooked head" and some we called "womper jaw." We had one I called Little Richard 'cause of the top knot on his head. Oh, and one we called Leon, 'cause for some reason that duh look on his face and the space between his teeth reminded me of Leon Spinx.

The man that bought our calves said he didn't care what they looked like, as long as they'd hold up in the feedlots.

Alice

 

[sjr725]

Yeah Alice - he's quite the looker! Looks like he's being hit in the face with about a 90 mph wind! But these I sell by the half - so at that point they all look good! Most of these holstein X calves are really pretty nice looking - but I have agreed to take all the steer calves this guy has and not pick just the cute ones! My husband always teases that I have to keep them hid behind the barn so when the cattle buyer comes he won't think they are ours!
I can't complain, last summer when I got them I paid .70 for them at around 250lbs - when little beef calves at the sale barn that size were $1.30

 

[Alice]

Yeah Alice - he's quite the looker! Looks like he's being hit in the face with about a 90 mph wind! But these I sell by the half - so at that point they all look good! Most of these holstein X calves are really pretty nice looking - but I have agreed to take all the steer calves this guy has and not pick just the cute ones! My husband always teases that I have to keep them hid behind the barn so when the cattle buyer comes he won't think they are ours!
I can't complain, last summer when I got them I paid .70 for them at around 250lbs - when little beef calves at the sale barn that size were $1.30

Looks like he's being hit in the face with about a 90 mph wind!

Hahahahahahahahahaha! Oh, that's funny!

And, no, you can't complain...sounds like you did quite well!

Alice

 

[kickinbull]

We had one once. Questioned the Vet, we came to the conclusion that we were feeding milk with antibiotics and he was allergic. Sure enough we stopped feeding him that discarded milk and his eyes went back to normal. We also stopped using it for any other calves. Down the drain.