Two calves with no eyes

[travlnusa]

Nieghbors have a milking herd of holsteins. Last two calves were born without eyeballs. Third had one eyeball, but it was blind.

These were 3 of last 4 calves. No history of it before.

Any ideas? He is feeding mineral and decent forage/grains.

 

[larryshoat]

Wow, interesting problem but I don't have a clue . Sounds like a good one for milkmaid to work on .

Larry

 

[rkm]

Sounds genetic to me.

 

[oscar p]

My wifes cousin had a calf born Sunday with no eyes and no tail. Darnest thing I ever saw.

 

[Victoria]

Anophthalmia is usually genetic. Is there any relation between the animals? Is there linebreeding going on?
IF not maybe BVD or a major Vitamin A deficiency?

 

[TexasBred]

Local dairyman had a holstein calf born two years ago that had two heads and a tail that was forked the last 3-4 inches. It died at birth and he took it to the taxidermist. Talking about a conversation piece.

 

[dun]

If the cows aren;t directly related I would start thinking something toxic during gestation

 

[CattleHand]

If the cows aren;t directly related I would start thinking something toxic during gestation

im on the same route as he is. If you can rule out genetics I'd say something is wrong with their environment while the calves are developing.

 

[Monica1]

I live on a small acreage and have been known to take in animals that need TLC. My last request was to take in a cow/calf pair. The calf was born with no eyeballs. I have not seen the calf yet, but was told that it is healty, except no eyeballs and the eye sockets are runny. The farmer is worried that once the cattle go out to pasture the calf won't do well and might get infection with no one on one. It is in the barn right now. I am wondering how these other calves are doing with no eyes. I did stop at the local vet clinic and before I even explained everything, just said it was born without eyeballs, they said to shoot it, it won't be worth it, etc. I am not in it for the money. So far all of my animals are pets, appearance doesn't matter to me and I don't care about the work. I just have a huge heart for animals. Can anyone shed any light on this issue for me.