Full term hairless calf??

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JCcattle

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I was just out on night check and found a new basically hairless calf. It was trying to suck. Looks full size. Simmental cross angus breed. Has anyone seen the likes? What's gonna happen? The back of its hocks are pink and its tail has a wee tuft on the end. The mama was cleaning n the calf trying to eat and it's dark n foggy so I didn't get a super close look at it otherwise. We're in Canada and thankfully it's above freezing tonight. We're gonna get it in the barn n make sure it eats but is there any point in keeping it alive... makes me sad it's a black blaze face calf out of a cow we really like
 
I have never seen that in a full term calf. I would think you should try to save calf and see if it will grow hair as it grows. you will probably need to keep it inside where it stays warm. It will be an extra chore but would be interesting to see how it turns out.
 
If there isnt a "problem" ie eating and such, I would let it be a cow and see what happens. Let them join the rest when it warms up in a couple weeks.
 
Probably 7 years ago I had a bull with very little hair, but also appeared to be full term. Always a poor doer. Kept him in the barn with his mama for almost a month before finally turning them out with the herd. Treated him for pneumonia when he was around 10 weeks old and he died at 3 months. Never did develop a full coat.
 
I had this heifer born Nov 2020. She was missing hair on all 4 legs & a thinning of hair on her face. My vet had no idea but had me give her injections of B12 & a multi Vitamin.
My Ag Ex Ofcr consulted with another vet & I've included a screen shot of his response. Because my cow was vaccinated, I decided that the most likely answer was the mineral deficiency. I would keep both the brown mineral block & the yellow sulfur blocks out. However, my cows prefer the yellow & rarely lick the other. I no longer keep the yellow.
The heifer has been growing normally & doing great! I had her in the head chute yesterday & ran my hands over her legs & you can't even tell that she ever had a problem. I didn't take pics but I have a few as the hair was growing in that I'll post.
 

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I had this heifer born Nov 2020. She was missing hair on all 4 legs & a thinning of hair on her face. My vet had no idea but had me give her injections of B12 & a multi Vitamin.
My Ag Ex Ofcr consulted with another vet & I've included a screen shot of his response. Because my cow was vaccinated, I decided that the most likely answer was the mineral deficiency. I would keep both the brown mineral block & the yellow sulfur blocks out. However, my cows prefer the yellow & rarely lick the other. I no longer keep the yellow.
The heifer has been growing normally & doing great! I had her in the head chute yesterday & ran my hands over her legs & you can't even tell that she ever had a problem. I didn't take pics but I have a few as the hair was growing in that I'll post.
By 3 months old her hair looked normal. Her skin went from pink to black within a few weeks.
 

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I definitely think you have a hypotrichosis calf there. I had one last year sired by a well known ai Angus bull. I did report it to the AAA and they did some skin tests on it. I told them what I thought it was but since it was out of a grade cow and hypotrichosis isn't in the Angus breed it has been forgotten about.
The said calf had a rough couple of weeks at first. She was never in the barn and made it through with the help of a good mother. As an 11 month heifer she probably weighs 800 lbs.
 
Maybe I'll fashion a sweater for her somehow at least. Yes I sent that pic to the vet and she said it's a hypotrichosis calf! I should check her mouth, I'd have to compare it to a normal calf since I don't really know what I'm looking for. The vet also said not to breed the cow to the same bull again which won't be happening cuz he's already hamburger!
 
Maybe I'll fashion a sweater for her somehow at least. Yes I sent that pic to the vet and she said it's a hypotrichosis calf! I should check her mouth, I'd have to compare it to a normal calf since I don't really know what I'm looking for. The vet also said not to breed the cow to the same bull again which won't be happening cuz he's already hamburger!
My calf appears completely normal now. She will go to the auction when weaned. I don't need any replacement heifers. I wondered if I should disclose?
 
Maybe I'll fashion a sweater for her somehow at least. Yes I sent that pic to the vet and she said it's a hypotrichosis calf! I should check her mouth, I'd have to compare it to a normal calf since I don't really know what I'm looking for. The vet also said not to breed the cow to the same bull again which won't be happening cuz he's already hamburger!
I'd also remember that half that bull AND probably the dam will be carriers for that defect

Where in Canada are you? I know someone in Edmonton (I think?) that sells the calf blankets I have, I have their contact info on facebook and I might have their number...
 

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