Tiny Calf ... Possible Dwarfism?

[DallasGal]

Hello,

Last week, we had a full term, fully formed calf born weighing less than 20 lbs; that is a guestimation, he hasn't been officially weighed, but I can easily pick him up with one hand and tuck him under my arm. He is extremely small and light. However, he is vigorous, alert, walks, runs, eats (bottle fed) very well and is doing great - which I'm obviously thankful for. The only reason he is being bottle fed is b/c he's so short that he would have to strain too much to reach the udders and we were concerned about him getting proper nutrition. We call this little guy "Two Cents." He is the smaller of the two calves in the pictures linked below. The bigger calf (Peyton) is only two weeks older than Two Cents and was actually a bit of a runt himself, although he does not look it compared to the little guy. Is Two Cents just naturally at the extreme smaller end of the normal size curve or is it possible he has some form of Dwarfism? He appears to be completely proportionate and without defect, besides his short stature of course.

https://goo.gl/photos/TutfWwikfwMUF2UH7
https://goo.gl/photos/mHVGtGgbZjXEk63w5
https://goo.gl/photos/cNRY9V8Jo1ZphecH9


Thank you

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Are you sure there isn't/wasn't another calf? I've had some small calves but none quite that small.

 

[Muddy]

There is a couple in my town that had a 16lbs Angus calf. It was single birth but it was premature. This particular calf appeared to be normal looking calf, not a dwarf. If it was a dwarf it should have shortest legs and huge head.

 

[kdhansen]

The last two pictures look as if the little one's head is very large compared to his body (hard to tell in the first picture), which could be an indication of dwarfism. Do you have sire and dam information/bloodlines?
Edit to add: Also the bigger than normal "bump" on his forehead is another dwarfism symptom.

 

[Muddy]

The last two pictures look as if the little one's head is very large compared to his body (hard to tell in the first picture), which could be an indication of dwarfism. Do you have sire and dam information/bloodlines?
Edit to add: Also the bigger than normal "bump" on his forehead is another dwarfism symptom.

Premature calves just looks like that and the calf in pictures surely didn't looks like a dwarf to me.

 

[kdhansen]

The last two pictures look as if the little one's head is very large compared to his body (hard to tell in the first picture), which could be an indication of dwarfism. Do you have sire and dam information/bloodlines?
Edit to add: Also the bigger than normal "bump" on his forehead is another dwarfism symptom.

Premature calves just looks like that and the calf in pictures surely didn't looks like a dwarf to me.

I agree, the little calf doesn't look like the typical dwarf, his legs don't look short compared to his body in the pics, for one. However, I took her statement "Last week, we had a full term, fully formed calf born weighing less than 20 lbs" as she wrote it. No twin, full term, not premature; vigorous, alert, walks, runs, eats... Maybe an "itty bitty" ???

 

[DallasGal]

Thank you all for your comments and input. To answer a few questions:

RE: Lineage - This baby came from a new herd of black baldies - which are crossbreeds that usually contain Hereford lineage. The bull that sired the calf has Hereford in him as well, but I'm not sure of his specific breed or breed mix. Overall, the cows at the Ranch are Angus, Brahman, and Baldy with confirmed Hereford lineage. I read that dwarfism sometimes randomly presents in herds with Hereford lineage, but this is exceedingly rare. The Ranch is not mine, it's my grandfather's. I usually just spend weekends and vacations there, so I'm not 100% sure on the specifics of each of his herd's lineages (or cattle rearing in general), but I find it very interesting and fun and try to keep up

RE: Twins - The herd of Baldies this calf was dropped from is new and being kept separate from the ranch's existing herd of Angus and Brahmans. We did not see the cow that dropped the calf anywhere around when we found Two Cents, but my Papaw knows which one it is. Two Cents is now ten days old (at least) and his mother has not yet dropped another that we are aware of; the pasture they are being kept in is checked 4-5 times during daylight hours and 1-2 times overnight by Papaw and his ranch hands - they do a complete count of cows/calves each time. Also, my grandparents live on the ranch with the pastures surrounding the ranch house on all sides. There really isn't an inch of the ranch that isn't driven or walked through or around every single day by my grandparents, the ranch hands, myself, my grandfather's brothers, or my various cousins and/or other visitors. The mother could have dropped a twin somewhere without someone seeing it and it became victim to predation; I find this scenario possible, but unlikely.

RE: Premature - The pictures I posted are of Two Cents approximately 3 days after he was found last weekend. I have one picture from the day he was found, I will post that here to. I'm assuming last Sunday (2/21) as the day he was born. He was found with thick, dense hair, long eye lashes, firm/black hooves, already walking/running, clear eyes, and he took to the bottle like it was his job. Based on his physical attributes and cognitive faculties, he does not appear to me to be a premie and every cow in his mom's herd was due or overdue.

RE: Features - In some pictures, his forehead (and head in general) do appear to be slightly big for his body. However, I'm attributing this to the crazy mound of hair atop his head. The Baldy herd he came from has some of the fullest, longest, craziest hair atop their head and coming off their ears I have ever seen in my life. These ladies have full on fro-hawks and giant whisps of hair growing in every direction around and from their ears - its quite interesting looking. I'm going to post some more pics. One will be a close up of his face/head where you can see that the bulge on his head is indeed constituted of hair. Also, when he is laying down with all his limbs tucked under his body, his head appears much larger than it is. In person, this calf appears proportionate to me. The the other baby cow he is pictured with (Peyton) is from the Angus herd; Peyton has very long ears, which seems typical of the Angus breed and Two Cents has shorter, fatter, rounder ears, which seems typical of the Baldies.

My grandfather grew up on a dairy farm and now raises cows of his own; he has been working a farm or a ranch and raising cows for most of his 71 years and he says he has never seen anything like this before.

The day/night he was found:
https://goo.gl/photos/Ji4M3KXVYGK9C8JQ7

Closeup showing his diminutive size and crazy hair:
https://goo.gl/photos/xkQaEMsGUUTSQ6Ki8
https://goo.gl/photos/SZi4jBzw7gwvenXc8

More pics:
https://goo.gl/photos/TuXs1n7TpXgNEcEy5
https://goo.gl/photos/PgDQS89psWCZ4ojM9

 

[DallasGal]

Update on Two Cents: He was taken to the vet and weighed. At just over a month old, he weighes 30 lbs and had a cold that the vet caught and treated before it progressed into pneumonia. Besides the cold, he is happy, healthy, fully developed, and remarkably small

 

[Workinonit Farm]

From the ptures, I don't see any characteristics that indicate dwarfism other than size. I think he's just a "freak" miniature. He seems to be well proportioned. I've never seen anything like that. My Golden Retriever is bigger than that baby :lol2: . He is cute, that's for sure.

Good luck with him. I'd be curious to see/know how he grows out.

 

[cowgirl8]

We had a dwarf once. At birth she was tiny, just like yours. There is a difference between tiny full term and tiny preemie.
I have pictures, but not at this moment.
This is how she played out. Kids loved her. They named her Midnight. As time went on, she stayed very very small. No point in selling at sale barn and we didnt need a 'pet' cow, we gave her to some friends who wanted just a pet. Her body did grow to a large size, but still small, her legs stayed somewhat short. Not really a strange dwarf looking short, but short.
They had her for years. One day, they looked out and there was a calf with her. Apparently she got with the neighbors bull and had a normal calf. We were all shocked she could carry a calf due to her size.
After that i dont know what happened to her. Kids graduated school and we never were around them at school functions(the only time we are around people).
If i can round up some pictures i'll post one, i may can even contact the people we gave her to, maybe they have pictures of her with her calf..

 

[Ebenezer]

A dwarf is not or does not have to be small all over. It will have shorter legs than it looks like it ought to and will have a domed type head or some malformation. I have not seen one in 50+ years but they are not "just tiny". Another chat site had a rumor for years and years that a new defect was going to be found with their name of "itty bitties". That seems to have died a death of over talking and under proving. Sometimes there is going to be an odd small one. Sometimes a calf is born normal and has no growth to be small at weaning. Some stall out at weaning. This can occur in any and all species. The best thing to do is to make a note about the sire and dam just in case it repeats, know that this calf will be a money loser and move on.

 

[Muddy]

Problem is that there are different dwarfism. Some may not be dwarfism related as it may be sickness related or lack of immunity related. However true dwarves are very few other than Dexters and mini Herefords and the only dwarves I've seen have been Angus, shorthorns and Charolais.

 

[DallasGal]

Hello all, I would just like to give an update on Two Cents, for those who might be interested.

To recap: He was born around February 20th weighing less than 20 lbs (estimate), a singleton, full term, fully developed, proportional with possibly a slightly enlarged forehead (but this could be attributed to the crazy pile of curly hair he has atop). He does have an adorable overbite and he grinds his teeth - which I read can be a sign of stress.

At around a month old he was seen by a vet and weighed in at 30 pounds, which the vet noted was remarkable. He did have a bit of a cold, which was treated and he has subsequently recovered from.

He is now approximately 3.5 months old, weighs about 35 lbs, and is vigorous and healthy... he just looks like a really, really, like really small cow, proportionate in every respect; just a "regular" cow scaled down! He is kept in the "baby" cow pen most of the time and let out to pasture with the herd a few times a day. He still can't be left alone with the herd lest he end up underfoot or taken by coyotes at night.

I will post updated pictures when I get a chance!

Cheers

 

[DallasGal]

Update: Two Cents is nearly 5 months old and weighs just under 50 lbs. He has grown very weak and his shoulder has deformed over time. He can barely walk now. I'm currently reaching out to researchers and Universities to see if anyone might be interested in having a look before (or after) he passes on. It's very sad, but probably won't be long now. We had grown quite attached and were definitely keeping him as a pet and we just hate to lose him. Sadness all around.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I'm sorry to hear that he has taken a turn for the worse.

Clearly he's quite an unusual little calf.

 

[jcarkie]

I had a cow that had a short legged dwarf she was bred to her own father a Maine Anjou. The next year I bred her to a braford bull she had a calf like the one you have very petite but seemed normal. I kept a heifer out of that braford bull and her daughter had a short legged calf no big forehead so that recessive will show up when paired up. None of them looked like the ones I remember as a kid.

 

[cowgirl8]

Update: Two Cents is nearly 5 months old and weighs just under 50 lbs. He has grown very weak and his shoulder has deformed over time. He can barely walk now. I'm currently reaching out to researchers and Universities to see if anyone might be interested in having a look before (or after) he passes on. It's very sad, but probably won't be long now. We had grown quite attached and were definitely keeping him as a pet and we just hate to lose him. Sadness all around.

What has his shoulders done? I posted a picture of my daughters bottle calf and his shoulders are all wonky...

 

[angus9259]

ugh. nature blows.