calf with forked tongue

[still learning]

Has anyone ever had a calf that had a forked tongue. I have a set of twins about 1 month old and have noticed that the heifer was always drooling. I got a couple of feet from her and she had a large blister on the side of her mouth. While I was watching her, the blister busted, and she was licking and I noticed her tongue. I got up next to the cow while the heifer was nursing and I could see then that the calf's tongue was deformed. It actually looks like a "U' has been taken out of the tongue. There is a portion of a tip on each side of the tongue, and in between the 2 tips the tongue goes back like a "U".

I have had cattle for about 8 years and have never seen this before. This twin is smaller then the bull calf, and she is not really growing. I just wondered if anyone else has had anything like this, and can the calf eat hay and grass when it gets older?

 

[Anonymous]

Should e able to eat and drink just fine but sucking is going to be hard. May be the reason she's not growing much too

 

[still learning]

I was told by someone that the calf bit it's tongue off. But if this is true, would the tongue not be shaped like a upside down U inside of appearing like U?

They said she would not be able to eat grass, but would be okay with hay.

 

[Amo]

I wouldn't think the hay being "cut" grass would make much difference. I didn't take much animal science, but the teeth and gumbs would do more for ripping off the grass than anything else I would think :?