Deformed calf

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novaman

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Had a beef heifer calving this morning. Had to go in and give some assistance. Crazy thing is, the calf had very little bone structure in its legs. When I put the straps on there was almost nothing to the legs, diameter wise. The head was very short and very puffed up. It reminded me of a bulldog. The wierdest part of the whole deal is that there was no fluid on the calf as it was coming out. The dry calf was very tough to get out. He was very puffed up throughout the body and his hind legs were just as deformed as the fronts. They were stubby and very little bone to them. The calf was obviously DOA. My question is, what could have possibly went on here? Its almost as if the calf absorbed the embryonic fluid and got puffed up but that seems awfully strange and doesn't explain the deformed skeletal structure. Anyone ever seen this before?
 
Search bulldog calf. Was the legs stiff as if there was no joints? Only one I ever saw I could not get out and the owner shot her and I took the calf out to see what was wrong. Very old cow and not worth the cost of a C-section.
 
Did it look like this ?
bter67.jpg
 
Joy, that's close to what it looks like. The joints were not stiff though. I'm thinking it's just some mutation but the thing that was so weird to me is that there was no fluid to lubricate the calf as it came out. We were seriously thinking about having to shoot the girl as it was looking quite impossible for awhile. The calf would be 1/4 Char, 1/4 Red Angus, and 1/2 Gelb.
 
Could be that there was no fluid because the calf had been dead for several days (at least) and she may have been in labor for several days without showing any significant signs. The fluid had all been expelled or dried up because of prolonged labor.
 
Sorry for your loss Novaman. I don't know something like that would freak me out. The condition is called Achondroplasic (bulldog calf). It's a gene that causes this.
 
Joy of Texas":bua1yenx said:
Sorry for your loss Novaman. I don't know something like that would freak me out. The condition is called Achondroplasic (bulldog calf). It's a gene that causes this.

Achondroplasia is dwarfism is it not?
 
3waycross":5fvvan3i said:
Joy of Texas":5fvvan3i said:
Sorry for your loss Novaman. I don't know something like that would freak me out. The condition is called Achondroplasic (bulldog calf). It's a gene that causes this.

Achondroplasia is dwarfism is it not?
Yes it is ,so I have read. I have never seen a calf like that. But I did find a couple of pictures.
 

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