double jointed?

[Beefy]

Has anyone ever had a doublejointed calf? my new years calf seems to have a double jointed hock. He walks a lot and is getting around fine, doenst seem to be in pain but his right hock joint seems to bend forward from time to time. doesnt seem to bother him but makes me want to throw up when i see it.


***EDITED***
this is the requested photograph of the new years calf, "DJ"
gross huh?

 

[cherokeeruby']

Have them like that from time to time, seems like it is the animals that end up being larger that do that. The joint will tighten up soon.

 

[Bez!]

Has anyone ever had a doublejointed calf? my new years calf seems to have a double jointed hock. He walks a lot and is getting around fine, doenst seem to be in pain but his right hock joint seems to bend forward from time to time. doesnt seem to bother him but makes me want to throw up when i see it.

Fairly common occurence - give it some time and it will go away.

Bez!

 

[Beefy]

good to hear. never seen it-figured it was freak. this boy is a XXL though. was going to leave him be and watch him, figured it would heal itself if something was wrong as young as he is.

 

[Bez!]

good to hear. never seen it-figured it was freak. this boy is a XXL though. was going to leave him be and watch him, figured it would heal itself if something was wrong as young as he is.

He is just knuckling over - the tendons will stretch and strengthen in a couple of weeks - usually applies to the bigger calves or the progeny of smaller mothers.

Regards,

Bez!

 

[Beefy]

its not at his pasterns, its at his hock..

 

[cherokeeruby']

its not at his pasterns, its at his hock..

The hock is what I'm talking about. Bends forward, bends back, sometimes bends sideways. Will tighten up.

 

[Bez!]

its not at his pasterns, its at his hock..

Well, I must admit I have never seen that - guess my reading comprehension is not up to snuff tonight.

Do not have an answer for you except give it time.

try and grab a pic if you can.

Bez!

 

[Beefy]

its not at his pasterns, its at his hock..

The hock is what I'm talking about. Bends forward, bends back, sometimes bends sideways. Will tighten up.

Yeah! sometimes he looks normal, sometimes he looks deformed, sometimes he looks bowlegged.

 

[Beefy]

Do not have an answer for you except give it time.

try and grab a pic if you can.

Bez!

shall do.

 

[Beefy]

**Picture added to first post**

He looks a lot better today. yesterday it was like his leg was broken but its not. doesnt both HIM at all..

 

[CattleAnnie]

Beefy, that sure does look weird. Ugh. Poor guy.

Is he just really post legged when he squares up, or does the joint totally hyper-extend?



Take care.

 

[Beefy]

Today, hes mostly just postlegged. It was totally hyperextending. i can tell it is getting a lot better. he looks completely normal the majority of the time but every once in a while it'll just flip over. makes me cringe. almost as a gross as a girl who pops her neck. *Gag*

I liken it to young boys who can bend their elbows IN. i guess the cartilage just has to mature. i know a kid i went to school with who could bend his elbow the wrong way until he was about 12.
I'm just glad it isnt broken.

 

[msscamp]

We get a calf like that every now and then. Usually within a couple of days the tendons and ligaments have tightened up and they are back to normal.

 

[Sevierite]

We had a calf like this two years ago. While standing,
his hind legs looked like there was no joint at all....
perfectly straight. Occasionally, they looked like
they were put on backward with the hock bending the
wrong way. This was a bucket calf and we kept him
until he weighed nearly 400 lbs. We then decided he
was going to get no better and sold him at the local
sale. He brought less than half what he should have.
Oh well...

 

[Beefy]

you dont suppose this has anything to do with the problem that yall were tlaking about the shorthorns having with the cartilage in the joints? beefmasters have about 1/4 shorthorn in them.

i guess not since msscamp has seen it in i guess murrays and ruby has seen it in i guess brahmans?

 

[Beefy]

but murrays have shorthorn too!

 

[msscamp]

I've actually seen it in Murray Grey's and Angus over the years. I think it has more to do with the size and position of the calf in the womb than anything. If memory serves the last time I saw it was in a 90-100 lb calf that was backwards born to a 2 year old heifer. I just chalked it up to a big calf in a little womb that was a hard pull (took 3 of us to get that calf pulled. We figured we were pulling a dead calf, but he got here alive. Mom wobbled for a day or so, as well. I'm amazed she claimed him after what she went through!). It straightened itself out in a day or so and the calf was fine.

 

[Beefy]

makes since. i dont know the circumstances of his birth since he was standing being cleaned on new years morning when i found him. i do know that he had previously been living in cramped quarters though. i didnt even notice his leg until the nextday. i like to leave them alone as much as possible the first day.

 

[msscamp]

I do, too. Leaving them alone for the first 24 hours goes a very long way in determining whether a heifer claims her calf or whether you are having to raise a bottle baby. Same thing applies to cows, although not to such a large degree generally.