Surprise! Blind cow has calf!

[vclavin]

My totally Blind Registered Angus cow had her bull calf on 7-2-2012.... not from bull she was with.. had to be from a 6 month weaned bull calf. I will get DNA matches when I get the calves blood sample.

Anyway, she is a really good momma. She quickly learned how to be easy when nosing calf so she wouldn't knock him rolling - lol. She then made sure he was always in front of her before she laid down.
She now keeps him in a corner by her hay when she is eating or against the wall in a corner close to the door when she is laying down in the breeze. He knows to call her when hungry and she calls him when looking for him. It's really neat to watch how she has adapted to being blind. We leave the light on in the barn at night so "he" can see, I'm sure she doesn't know he is NOT blind.

Valerie

 

[ALACOWMAN]

do you keep this cow up all the time... ive had a blind calf they can be a nightmare running with the herd

 

[vclavin]

do you keep this cow up all the time... ive had a blind calf they can be a nightmare running with the herd

She's never been with the herd in the pasture, only in a mini barn lot where she can't get hurt but can get to a round bale of hay , a feed bunk , and water tank. She babysits the weaned calves which helps keep them calmer with an "adult" nearby... not so afraid or it least it seems so. She became blind about a week after birth, mom came in from the pasture to be let in to feed her.
We were going to AI her (Star is her name) but they told us she would have to be moved to so many places that it would/could scare her and we didn't want that to happen. You can put your hand under her chin and lead her anywhere. At weaning, she got her leg caught between the pipe fence and the water tank, she laid calm as can be and let my husband untangle her.
Valerie

 

[Ozhorse]

It is amazing how animals cope sometimes. I was surprised to find some blind sheep will cope quite well. The larger the mob the better. I found one in a mob of 300 that was two years old and had probably been blind for ages and I did not know. They will even cope with mustering with dogs, at a gallop, so long as they don't get split off by rough dog work. They stay in physical contact with the other sheep and will call to get back in the group if they get separated.

Blind sheep don't usually cope so well in a small group as they get separated easier and panic.

More than once, when I have removed a blind sheep from a mob and put it in a group of culls or sick group I have seen that a sighted sheep will stay with it and lead it around, and go back and get it if it gets confused and lost. So there is altruism in sheep. Sheep have friends too, just like horses and cows do.

Some sheep don't cope with being blind. If infectious pinkeye goes through the mob (different than cattle pinkeye- sheep go blind for about a fortnight but get over it if they don't have an accident) quite a few will suddenly go blind. Some panic and loose the plot and run into things until they get head injuries.

So I can see why you keep your blind cow. If she does not give you too much work and has a useful place on your farm and is happy in herself why not!

 

[dun]

Sheep have friends too

I thought the only friend that range maggots had were coyotes!

 

[Dave]

Sheep have friends too

I thought the only friend that range maggots had were coyotes!

Well there is also the occasional bear or mountain lion that will befriend a sheep or two.

 

[Ozhorse]

Don't forget the eagles. I found 6 eagles had "made friends" with a blind adult sheep about 200 yards from the house.

 

[Bigfoot]

I had a blind cow for many years out with my herd. She was fine.

 

[Taurus]

Had a blind steer run with the herd for two years and he was fine till he suffered a "massive headache".

 

[suzorse]

you can also put a bell on her calf,I know someone who had a blind broodmare,and as soon as her foal was born they put a bell on it worked great
Suzanne

 

[Dave]

I had a steer a couple years ago who was blind in one eye and could barely see out of the other. He was a pain in the backside. If he got seperated from the herd he would run around like an idiot looking for them. Run through fences, tear things up. I swear the other cows would sneak away from him just to watch him go crazy.