annielinnhavenfarms
Member
Had a cow had triplets when I was young
Is that a recent birth or is that the calf you wrote about awhile back? Can't remember if it lived ?View attachment 58392View attachment 58393Is that a recent birth or is that the calf you wrote about some time back? Can't remember if it lived long enough to go out to pasture with the cow?
I wrote about it awhile back. I ended up putting it down. Turned out to have more issues than just being bald.Is that a recent birth or is that the calf you wrote about awhile back? Can't remember if it lived ?
We calve 10-12 heifers every year . Have slowly built our herd from the original 25 to around 110 momma cows . Heifers have aged me more than my 3 kids ! I know some folks never have a minute's problem with them but it's the constant having to check on them and the stress of making sure they're ok . Had 11 this year , assisted with 2 , 2 haven't calved, 9 have , and the one morning I didn't go check them 1 lost her calf ?Happened just a few weeks ago. Heifer is calving out in the pasture, it's going alright, a bit slow maybe, but there is progress. She separated herself from the herd and chose a flat area which has a row/berm of dirt piled up, maybe 50 feet long and 2 or 3 feet up. The cows love to lay on it and that's where she chose to lay her egg.
Like I said, things were going alright. She took her time. Thought I'd leave her alone for a bit and went home. Hour later I go check on her............ don't know what the hell she did but the calf was half way out and she was laying on her side with her head under her facing backwards. She broke her neck and was dead.
How you do that on flat ground and some dirt piled up........ I'll never know. Beat myself up for it still. Shouldn't have gone home.
Did you keep the cow? Bull? Did they say it was a known issue they had a name for?This calf was born in 2008. It was born alive on a Weekend. It couldn't rise and I thought it would pass pretty quick, but it did not. The poor cow stood over it patiently trying to get it up. I donated it to Oregon State University for their veterinary med students to examine. It was still alive when I arrived at the college on Monday. They commented that it took a double dose of the medication they used to put it down, before it finally passed.
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I reported it to American Angus. I sent pictures and the veterinary report but never heard anything back. There was some suggestions that it could have been due to a toxin, such as Lupin. I kept her until she was 13 years old in 2017. I don't normally keep one that doesn't raise a calf, but I kind of thought a defect like this would be identified, and I wanted the cow here for DNA analysis if it did. I did do a DNA profile on her that included all identified defects and nothing showed up. I understand that AAA stores the DNA, so if something ever does show up, we will still be able to test. She never had another calf that wasn't normal, but I did not keep any descendants from either her or the bull. I do have a few cows that descend from her Dam. Everything would be quite a few generations removed by now. I have never seen another with any defects from any of those animals.Did you keep the cow? Bull? Did they say it was a known issue they had a name for?
I could also be a spontaneous mutation. If that's the case the cow or her descendants wouldn't be a problem. But it would have been interesting if the Angus association had been communicative. That was some pretty odd **it.I reported it to American Angus. I sent pictures and the veterinary report but never heard anything back. There was some suggestions that it could have been due to a toxin, such as Lupin. I kept her until she was 13 years old in 2017. I don't normally keep one that doesn't raise a calf, but I kind of thought a defect like this would be identified, and I wanted the cow here for DNA analysis if it did. I did do a DNA profile on her that included all identified defects and nothing showed up. I understand that AAA stores the DNA, so if something ever does show up, we will still be able to test. She never had another calf that wasn't normal, but I did not keep any descendants from either her or the bull. I do have a few cows that descend from her Dam. Everything would be quite a few generations removed by now. I have never seen another with any defects from any of those animals.