Feeder going blind?

[bird dog]

I bought a group of feeder calves in July at the sale barn to put on grass and one of them has gone ( is going) blind. Her eyes appear normal. She is a cross bred mixed heifer of the wrong color, so she was cheap. She is in with about 65 others so I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to her but she never came into the pens when feeding like the others. That is not unusual. There is always one or two. Anyway today I saw her out in the adjoining pasture by her self and when I went to investigate I realized she was there because she can't find the gate. Now my thoughts are that her sight has always been bad and getting worse. She is about 550 lbs and appears healthy and I was pleased by how she looked and her weight gain.

So any ideas what caused this if anything and can it be something that can spread to the other animals? She was vaccinated with a 8 way upon arrival but it has not been boosted.

Thanks

 

[sizmic]

Any lead batteries laying around, sounds like lead poisining.

Sizmic

 

[bird dog]

No these are clean pastures. Thanks anyway. It got me thinking and wondering if there is anything she ate that might cause this. I know one thing, she is going to be a pain to catch and get loaded.

 

[branguscowgirl]

A bang on the head can cause nerve damage behind the eyes and cause blindness. I had this happen to a horse. Eyes remained normal looking.