Newborn problem

[Anonymous]

Question from neighbor!

Had a red angus calf born yesterday. Its hind legs are stiff…they won’t bend at all. It cannot stand up. It hobbles around on its front legs and is nursing. Tried to bend its hind legs and couldn’t. He said it also had a small hind end. Only weighs about 40 to 45 pounds. The mother is a heifer.

Any body know what to do.

dun

 

[Anonymous]

It sounds like it has some sort of nutritional difficiency. It might get better if you keep it eating. If it doesn't improve in a week, if it lasts that long it will probably die. I wouldn't waste any money on a vet though. Calf will probably never amount to much and will be a pain in the arse to wet nurse.

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[Anonymous]

Legs won't bend at all?

Hubby says that when he used to work on a big dairy many, many moons ago, they would occasionally get calves who's joints were "locked". They would massage the legs & keep trying to move the joints, and apply heat and in most cases they came out of it. He says it was something to do with lack of lubrication inside the joint.

Who knows, might be the same thing?

Ann B

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[Anonymous]

> Question from neighbor!

> Had a red angus calf born
> yesterday. Its hind legs are
> stiff…they won’t bend at all. It
> cannot stand up. It hobbles around
> on its front legs and is nursing.
> Tried to bend its hind legs and
> couldn’t. He said it also had a
> small hind end. Only weighs about
> 40 to 45 pounds. The mother is a
> heifer.

> Any body know what to do.

> dun

Saw this alot when I was in school doing research. We had some Beefmaster cattle that had the same problem. My profs. told me it was a birth defect that could be caused by one or more things. Poor nutrients during gestation or in the case of the Beefmasters because of inbreeding. We tried to raise them on a bottle but they ended up no dying.

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[Anonymous]

Sounds like a malnutrition caused muscle problem. Have them try hot wrapping it and loosening the muscles and then just massage it and see if that works. good luck

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