Contracted Tendon?? "picture"

[highgrit]

We are having a bad run of luck so far. Is this a picture of a contracted tendon?? This calf could not get up, so we put mom in the chute and let it suck on all 4 of the teats. Is this a contracted tendon or is it deformed?? It also has a swollen rear leg that might be broke, but it doesn't squirm or squell when we mess with it. Should I to bring it to the Vet in the morning, or just knock it in the head??
One more question, I tried to milk her but I never got any milk or colostrum to squirt out. But when we put him up to her teats he went to sucking hard. But we didn't see any milk or colostrum on his mouth. Going to run mom in the chute again before dark and try one more time. Hate to lose another calf, but it don't look good to me.

 

[Putangitangi]

Got pictures of the whole calf you could post? Those feet look pretty odd.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm "assuming" this is an Angus based animal. Looks deformed for sure. Curly Calf Syndrome??? If you PM'd Robert, he would be able to tell you.

 

[Putangitangi]

I'm "assuming" this is an Angus based animal. Looks deformed for sure. Curly Calf Syndrome??? If you PM'd Robert, he would be able to tell you.

They're all born dead though, aren't they?

 

[colleen]

I found this article and there was a pic of a calf with hooves that looked alot like your calf's hoof. Is there a possibility that the mother may have eaten one of these?? i dont have a clue, but it is worth posting just in case.

"Cattle raised on rangelands are frequently exposed to plant teratogens. The most common plant-induced congenital abnormalities are attributable to lupines (Lupinus spp.), poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), locoweeds (Astragalus and Oxytropis spp.), and tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca). These plants eaten by pregnant cows between the 40th and 100th days of gestation will cause 'crooked calf disease" (Figure 2). Affected calves are born with various deformities of the bones of the legs and quite often have cleft palates. The latter problem results in a calf that has milk running out its nose at it suckles. As mentioned earlier, western false hellebore or corn lily (Veratrum californicum) common at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains is a well known teratogen causing cyclopia. Other plants that grow in the western States that have been associated with calf deformities include sorghums, members of the Prunus genus (eg: choke cherries), jimson weed (Datura stramonium) and groundsels (Senecio spp.)."

 

[highgrit]

She might of ate some coffee weed or some fern.

 

[colleen]

here is the pic (i hope it works) of the pic in article. May be a bit more extreme then yours but kind of looks like it. Just a thought anyway......

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Putang - not sure - I really don't know enough about the different genetic defects.

 

[colleen]

She might of ate some coffee weed or some fern.

Poison hemlock looks like a fern. It is very dangerous for cattle. (Humans too) even as a dried up plant. spreads easily if not Removed the right way. You may want to google it just in case it is what you are dealing with. Sometimes you have that one hardheaded cow who is attracted to something they shouldn't eat.
Good luck!

 

[colleen]

She might of ate some coffee weed or some fern.

http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/publications/poi ... ochure.pdf

 

[dun]

There is another plant(weed) that looks almost exactly the same. The only difference is the purple slotches on the poison hemlock, the other is green. But we eradicated the other stuff too just so we could make sure if the hemlock came back that we would spot it.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Did you call the vet? That hoof is deformed, if it was contracted the toes would look the same, be aligned, so to speak. It looks like one is in the wrong place. Keep us informed, I am interested in what the outcome is. We have hemlock all around here and have not had a problem, but the cows do not eat it.

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

Did you squeeze hard enough to break open the "plug" to get some nutrition in the calf?

Can you move the foot and straighten it out (even if it takes a LOT of pressure)?

Does the calf try to stand and walk on the knuckled part and otherwise look thrifty?

If so, you could splint it... or just keep stretching them out in the correct position several times a day by getting the calf standing up (or propped up on a small square bail) and have it put some weight on it in the correct position to stretch it out -- if it is contracted. You can also take a rag/washcloth and wrap it around the knuckle and wrap co-flex tape around it really tightly to help stretch it out but not be so hard that the little bugger fights it - change the co-flex wrapping each night to let the thing rest.

Let us know what your vet says.

 

[highgrit]

The calf has a 2 deformed legs and 3 of it's hoofs are deformed also. We have had a few good long time cattlemen come by and they have never seen this before. And the Vet thinks he wouldn't mess with it. So now I don't know what I am going to do. The sale barn I deal with mostly, sells on Wednesday and mom is taking a ride. I don't know if I should keep the calf till I ship her or take care of him now. She is not going to be very happy either way, but I don't want to listen to her looking for her calf either.
Thanks to all of you for the input, I wish it would of had a better out come.

 

[dun]

There is another plant(weed) that looks almost exactly the same. The only difference is the purple slotches on the poison hemlock, the other is green. .

I fiurged out what the other plant is. CowParsnip, but it grows 6-8 foot tall instead of 2-3 feet. I talked to the vet about it and he thinks it may have the same alkoloids in it as poison hemlock but not as much