I have a 2 month old bottle calf that has started having stiffness in her rear legs and when she walks it sounds like her bones are creaking. She has a great appetite, no fever, can get up and down. We were feeling her joints today to see if they were hot or swollen and when we felt her leg it made "crunching" sounds. What in the world could this be?
stiff legs and creaky bones
- Thread starter nobrabbit
- Start date
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larryshoat
Well-known member
Usually caused by an untreated navel infection . Calves should be checked for the first 10 days for navel infection and any calf with a navel that is bigger than your thumb should be treated with 10ml penicillin once and 10ml oral Amoxicillin 2X per day for 3 or 4 days . These navel infections cause so much trouble, but are easy and cheap to treat . I think the fact that the symptoms occur long after the original infection makes it hard to put together, but if you'll pay attention to these navels this kind of thing will be prevented .
Larry
Larry
larryshoat
Well-known member
I'm talking about the cord that extends up into the belly . When you take the navel between your thumb and finger you can feel the cord inside, if it is smaller than your thumb and pliable it is ok, if it is bigger than your thumb and solid feeling it is infected .
Larry
Larry
hillsdown
Well-known member
Brangus have a large skin flap around the navel naturally. They just have a very large outy.
I agree with Larry, sounds like a navel infection. (Just to prepare for what to expect if you can't treat it) We acquired a calf from a friend that had a navel infection. She ended up extremely post legged, and would constantly move her hind legs to alleviate pressure. She gained ok when she was on grain, but we made her hamburger when she reached about 800 lbs. We didn't want her getting too uncomfortable as she fattened.nobrabbit":2vftqkxb said:
