Roach Back Cow

[Alan]

One of my cows is turning three with a nice calf at her side. When I bought her as a yearling she had a nice top line. Right now, other than a roach back she is one of my better cows. Is roach back a hereditary thing? Is there a gene for this condition, or is it just the animals growth pattern? Also is it an issue for early age back problems in a cow?

Thanks,
Alan

 

[KNERSIE]

Could there another possible cause, like hardware, gut irritation, etc?

 

[Bez>]

Well, lets look at things differently.

As long as she is healthy - and raises a good calf for the feed lot - who cares?

Other than you do not like to look at ther - and if that overrides the good calf thing - then toss her.

Pretty simple choices.

Or do what I do sometimes - wait until she ticks you off and load her right away! 8)

Bez>

 

[CPL]

Well, lets look at things differently.

As long as she is healthy - and raises a good calf for the feed lot - who cares?

Other than you do not like to look at ther - and if that overrides the good calf thing - then toss her.

Pretty simple choices.

Or do what I do sometimes - wait until she ticks you off and load her right away! 8)

Bez>

If my memory is correct, Alan has reg Herfs.

I've seen a bull with that- (Kind of the same question) would that go to his calves and/or hinder his breeding abilities?

 

[Mongoose]

If she is healthy and cares for her calves she has I wouldnt worry about it. I dont know if its heredity or not, I couldnt help you there.

 

[Alan]

Well, lets look at things differently.

As long as she is healthy - and raises a good calf for the feed lot - who cares?

Other than you do not like to look at ther - and if that overrides the good calf thing - then toss her.

Pretty simple choices.

Or do what I do sometimes - wait until she ticks you off and load her right away! 8)

Bez>

Okay Bez I'm having a bad night maybe bringing in hay with no help. But I'll be nice, Will some one please answer my questions. Is it genetic? Is it a problem for cow in the long term?
Alan

 

[Brute 23]

IF it is not showing in her calves I would not worry about it.

 

[Txwalt]

IF it is not showing in her calves I would not worry about it.

I think he wants specific answers to his specific questions.

Walt

 

[Brute 23]

IF it is not showing in her calves I would not worry about it.

I think he wants specific answers to his specific questions.

Walt

My answer would be YES...

BUT just because an animal has a gene for some kind of defect does not mean it will show in offspring...

AND just because an animal has a defect does not mean it is a genetic defect.

 

[dun]

It is genetic, sometimes. There can be other causes bu most the time it's in te genes. It depends on how severee the problem as to the effect on he cow. We had one cow thta was very slightly roached, we finally shipped her because of arthiritis in her hips problems, she was 13 when she left. We have kept a couple of her daughters and the problem showed up on one, but only as she got into the 6-7 year range.

 

[Alan]

Thanks to all that answered my question.... more haying today

Alan

 

[toby]

Ok I give - please explain roach back. Is it like a hump back? i.e. bowing upward. I see a lot of dairy breeds at the Sales Barn that there backs bow upward and beef breeds that are sway back. Thanks

 

[bward]

I had a little hereford like that and it drove me crazy to look at her. I suspected hardware disease but she ended up living a long life despite her appearance

 

[dun]

Ok I give - please explain roach back. Is it like a hump back? i.e. bowing upward. I see a lot of dairy breeds at the Sales Barn that there backs bow upward and beef breeds that are sway back. Thanks

That;s as good of a discription as any

 

[MikeC]

Had one purebred Char that was humped. Sold her for phenotypical reasons but both of the daughters from her had HUGE ribeyes and ratio'ed much higher than the others in the contemp groups.

Don't know if the hump was correlated to the ribeyes but was sure a coincidence of those two heifers coming from different sires.

Guess I'll never know now......................

 

[TheBullLady]

Simmentals seem to be prone to that.. I've had quite a few over the years. It has never been any problem that I've noticed, and going back over the cows and their calves, it seems about 50% of their calves have it.

You'll also see a lot of it in dairy cattle. I think it's just their structural makeup.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Roach back is "generally" from heavy loin muscling or structurally unsound legs - post legged.
The old Signal (Simmental) bull passed that "trait" on to his daughters, which usually showed up as they got some age on them. I guess I would have to disagree as to having it show up a lot in the breed. Shows up in ALL breeds.
As long as she is structurally sound enough to breed, maintain her body condition & raise a good calf, I wouldn't worry about it.
Even if you are raising show calves, if they don't show the trait at a young age, no problem.

 

[BAGTIC]

I bought a six month old roch backed heifer that was mixed in with some others. At first I was didappointed but after 6 months she has straightened out and has a good backline.

I used to joke about her mamma having been raped by a yorkshire boar as her backline looked exactly like a domestic boar. Reminds me ofthe story of The Ugly Duckling.