Calf with possible hernia

[Manunitedtopgear]

I have a calf that is a week and a half old. Ever since she was born her naval area has been sagging down from her belly a little bit. I am wondering if this is a hernia or just some of the umbilical cord that hasn't fallen off yet. When I felt it, it felt like a tube. I can't feel a hole to push it back into her belly. Please let me know what you guys think. If you see some red stuff around it, it's just betadine that I have been soaking her naval in.

 

[dun]

Does it feel hot? If you can;t feel a hole the odds of it being a hernia are pretty slim. Almost looks like an infection. But, this year we had a heifer calf that I kept thinking was mis-tagged because she hung down like that and I kept checking to make sure she really was a heifer. Never went off her feed acted just fine. I quit looking and now I can;t tell which one it was. All the heifers bellys are as smooth as they should be. So, Benign neglect would be my plan.

 

[Manunitedtopgear]

It's not hot at all, I am pretty certain she doesn't have an infection.

 

[Son of Butch]

Does it feel hot? If you can;t feel a hole the odds of it being a hernia are pretty slim. Almost looks like an infection. But, this year we had a heifer calf that I kept thinking was mis-tagged because she hung down like that and I kept checking to make sure she really was a heifer. Never went off her feed acted just fine. I quit looking and now I can;t tell which one it was. All the heifers bellys are as smooth as they should be. So, Benign neglect would be my plan.

Yup, maybe you'll have the luck of dun... time will tell.

 

[farmerjan]

I see some "larger" looking navel areas on bottle calves occasionally. If it is not hot, doesn't look infected, I would just not get too excited about it. Even if you don't feel a "hole" where it could be pushed back up into her abdomen, it could very well just be a small navel hernia and they usually "grow into them" like Dun was saying. Have one that is still a little "bigger" but she has a little bit of ear so think there is brangus in her and the navel area just seems to be a little bigger. Working on her 3rd calf so am not worried about it at this late date.

 

[cowgirl8]

If its a hernia you'll be able to push it back up. I have a bottle calf that has one...We'll take him to our vet to fix.

 

[farmerjan]

Tested a farm this morning and was specifically looking at the navel area of the milking cows. Many have a protrusion like in the picture, about the size of a tennis ball to a baseball on a few. All these are dairy cows in the milking string. Some had perfectly smooth underlines, but many did not. Just thought that I would make it a point of looking to see if it is somewhat common. Didn't see any problems with any of them. Farmer couldn't say that he remembered any as being any problems when they were calves either. Just thought I would mention it.

 

[BillInSpgfMo]

I have 4 five-month-old Angus heifers. I look them over every time I feed them, as that is when can I get close enough. This morning I noticed one of them has what appears to be a hernia on the left side of the navel. It's not visible from the right side. As was mentioned above, I have not felt it for heat. Could this have been caused by an injury?