half tail on new calf

[trip]

new calf only has half of tail. When it was born the end of the tail had no skin on it, looked kinda like a bony bloody finger bout last 3 inches. That was two days ago. Never seen nothing like it. Except for that appears to be healthy.

 

[TheBullLady]

Did you see the calf as soon as it was born? I suspect it got stepped on and broken off.. possibly by the momma (accidentally of course) I had that happen to a heifer last year.

 

[Beefy]

Probably what BullLady said. I had this happen to a heifer calf a few years back. she calved today as a matter of fact.

We also had a limousin cow have a limousin calf that had a deformed tail one year. i blamed that one on genetics.

 

[docgraybull]

If it was bloody, I agree with the others, that it was probably stepped on. I have seen a fully developed, but scrawny short tail that was due to the way the fetal calf was carried in the uterus. Basically it somehow put enough pressure on the tail that it had inadequate blood supply to grow properly. At least that's how the vet explained it, he didn't think it was a genetic defect. The calf was otherwise normal and grew well.