Have you ever seen a ....

[Jogeephus]

midgit cow? Not speaking of the dwarf breed they are selling. A friend of mine bought a bull calf for $25 cause the guy didn't want to sell it at the barn cause it was a midgit. He was sired by normal cattle but the thing doesn't weigh 350 lbs. and its two years old. He's healthy in all respects but he looks like a calf.

I was just wondering if any of you have heard of this or seen anything like this. Is it rare or extremely rare or unheard of?

 

[CUZ]

Never seen it, but it happens with people so seems logical it can happen in cows. How tall is the fellar?

Cuz

 

[Beefy]

most dwarf calves ive seen have been angus or hereford. ive never had a dwarf but had a few poor doers that never amounted to much.

 

[dun]

most dwarf calves ive seen have been angus or hereford.

It's funny, I've heard other people say the same thing. But he only 2 dwarfs I ever saw were charolais or charolais crosses. Last year at the sale barn everyone was talking about this charolais bull so I had to take a look. I could hardly believe my eyes. Full blown bull, huge nuts, big cresty neck, curly face hair and didn;t come up to my waist.

 

[cattleluvr18]

i believe in midgit cattle. i have a feeder calf thats filling out beautifully but is just so dang short.

 

[Diehard40]

there is a dwarfism gene in beef cattle

 

[ALACOWMAN]

ive seen two. one was a snorter dwarf. that's a pitiful sight should have been knocked in the head. but the hillbilly didnt even know any thing was wrong with it. went there with an ol trader who was going to buy him out.

 

[Horticattleman]

Yup I sold one last year. Angus cross 8 months old, weighed out at 275 lbs. He was filled out and all and not deprived for sure. Momma full size sire full size. Both were rather large come to think of it.

 

[Jogeephus]

Never seen it, but it happens with people so seems logical it can happen in cows. How tall is the fellar?

Cuz

Got a pic of him today. This is him, his younger brother and his mother. He's got a set on him that won't quit. Oh, they said he father was a limi.

 

[Beefy]

thats not a dwarf, it is stunted. (and likely from inbreeding depression). i doubt that calf was sired by the limousin bull they think. he probably wouldnt be that yellow. that little cow may be a little stunted too..but with a good bull she should produce good calves.

I have a gorgeous cow that as a first calver didnt milk worth a toot. her heifer wound up looking like that and i think the sire was a yearling that was the cows half brother. i gave her another shot to see if she would have better calves if they werent inbred. plus i wanted to see if she would milk better. she did! has great calves now.

 

[Jogeephus]

Beefy, pardon my ignorance but what is the difference in the two. midget/inbreeding depression Knowing these folks the way I do, your words do make sense.(You should see the GOOD ANGUS bull they just bought. Jimminy, the thing looks like somebody transplanted a bulls head on a dang heifer)

Also, do you think the names, Daryl and Daryl would be good names for the brothers? :lol:

 

[Beefy]

Beefy, pardon my ignorance but what is the difference in the two. midget/inbreeding depression Knowing these folks the way I do, your words do make sense.(You should see the GOOD ANGUS bull they just bought. Jimminy, the thing looks like somebody transplanted a bulls head on a dang heifer)

Also, do you think the names, Daryl and Daryl would be good names for the brothers? :lol:

great minds think alike. i was thinking just today about naming some calves daryl. this is my calf daryl. and this is my other calf daryl. heh.

well... a midget is a dwarf. tho they prefer the term "little cow/bull". they are not born proportional. they have abnormally big heads at birth and are short legged and squatty. they have a distinct look about them--its pretty easy to tell right away thats you are looking at a dwarf. they get dwarf genes from both parents.

inbreeding depression is more ambiguous. they look normal at birth but then they are just always a "poor doer". why? they are just unthrifty b/c of all the bad genes that come to the surface. they will get stunted looking and always be runty. you can feed the daylights out of them and still get nowhere.

 

[Jogeephus]

You don't think that one's head out of proportion? I know his nads are. :lol:

 

[Beefy]

it is now that hes stunted! i bet he looked like a normal calf when he was born tho.

cow looks like shes milking fair for the other calf (tho hes not all that and a bag of chips either), this makes me lean toward inbreeding depression.

 

[Jogeephus]

Ok, I think I get it. A true dwarf would have a big head at birth and maintain that look. I'll ask him tomorrow about what he looked like last year. This, I think, is her third calf and they don't cut em. You don't reckon the she got bred by her own calf do you? :shock: (It would have had to been, since you say it doesn't look like it was sired by a limmi)

 

[Beefy]

well, judging by the stature of that little cow, it wouldnt surpise me if she got bred early before she was very big. probably had a bull calf. calf sucked her down, kept her from growing anymore, kind of stunted her. probably raised a decent bull and probably didnt breed back on time. big bull calf bred her. or maybe a brother.

stunted calves like that also result from milk deprivation.
another idea is that maybe a big sibling was getting all this little fellers milk (colostrum included)... just stunting him. in that case inbreeding depression would have nothing to do with it. very likely as well.

all of this is just speculation of course. just relating what ive lived and learned.

 

[Jogeephus]

Well, I think you pretty well hit the nail on the head. These folks are friends of mine but they really don't do a very good job of raising cattle. All your "speculation" pretty well describes their operation. But they do take good care of their horses. Thanks for the education Beefy!

 

[Beefy]

ps. if that gray in the background is a bull your neighbor might get some nice rattail calves next year...

 

[ALACOWMAN]

beefy's right he's stunted. lop those horn's off get a little weight on him... {in the right place's}... he'll look like a different animal . a true dwarf got himself a big bulging forehead . the nutt part. well they will grow along with age