I found one of my angus calves today and it's tongue was severed nearly completely off. The calf is almost three months old. I found out tonight my neighbor has been setting bear traps and I think this little heifer got off and possibly licked it. Nothing I know of could have done this. My question Is it even possible for a cow to live without a tongue? Any advice she will drink water and nibble grain.
Calf with tongue injury
- Thread starter ChWorley
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Lucky_P
Well-known member
sort of depends on how much is gone... if you've ever watched cows graze, they normally use their tongue to prehend forage, then rip it off with teeth & dental pad. I'd suspect that a mostly tongue-less cow will have some difficulty taking in enough forage to do well, but they're pretty resilient.
Did this calf survive? I have a calf in a similar situation but is 4 weeks old, I'm trying to find any information that may help. Thankyou
simme
Old Dumb Guy
Not likely to get a response from that member. Has not been on the forum for 6 years.
CowboyRam
Well-known member
We had one of my uncles cows that got a peace of baling twine wrapped around her tongue. damn near tore the end of it off. We took her to the vet where they had to cut it off the rest of the way. I think she lost a good 1 1/2" of her tongue. I'm not sure how it effected her eating, as he sold off all his cows that year. I do know that after the vet cutting off the rest of that tongue she wanted to see somebody, she was not a happy camper after that ordeal.
