udder issues

[cypressfarms]

One of the longhorn heifers that recently calved has the weirdest udder. I've never seen this before; The front quarters are small but functional. The rear quarters are not nipple shape and don't appear to be able to produce milk. I'm not sure if the calf will make it, but she's a fighter. Almost everytime I go out, the calf is working over the front nipples. Has anyone ever seen this? I'm assuming this is genetic - both will be going to the stockyard the next time I work the cows. I can't see this getting any better, that's for sure.

Here are a couple of pics:

Calf working on front quarter, you can see rear quarter

View from behind at both rear quarters:

 

[Aaron]

Did you raise the the cow yourself or buy her? :cowboy:

 

[KNERSIE]

Years ago I've seen a fencejumping cow amputate her teats like that on a barb wire fence, when it healed it looked just like that.

 

[cypressfarms]

Did you raise the the cow yourself or buy her? :cowboy:

Bought her - she is a part of a group of heifer longhorns that I bought last year. Didn't notice anything strange until her udder started to develop right before calving.

 

[bigbull338]

you got yourself a 2 teated longhorn heifer.an as said the back teats look to have been cut off.but how is the q.a heifers teats wont usually get cut off jumping or climbing through a fence.id put her on the trailer.

 

[cypressfarms]

you got yourself a 2 teated longhorn heifer.an as said the back teats look to have been cut off.but how is the q.a heifers teats wont usually get cut off jumping or climbing through a fence.id put her on the trailer.

She's going on the trailer; no obvious signs of scaring, both rear quarters are the same, so I'm assuming it's a genetic problem. Her and the calf will go as a pair in a couple of weeks when I do the spring working.

 

[alacattleman]

are all these heifers siblings

 

[cypressfarms]

are all these heifers siblings

Not according to the guy that I bought them from; I got 7 total - If you've seen the thread I posted on the calving board, it shows the first three to calf. All three of these have somewhat similar markings - but only two look like they could be siblings, but the other 4 are totally different color and marking wise.

None of the others have this problem - I've checked since this happened.

 

[hillsdown]

Can a long horn heifer produce enough milk on two quarters to raise a calf ... My guess is not likely.. You will get nothing for them as a cow calf pair unless the buyers are blind. I would sell them as splits or sell the cow now and bottle feed or graft the calf onto another now. It looks more like something genetic ,rather than an injury, but who knows.
Good luck.

 

[BRYANT]

Can't say I ever seen one with only 2 teats , but I had a cross bred cow that I bought from a sale that had 6 teats which is not all that uncommon but she gave milk out of 5 of them and her calves would nurse all 5 that maybe something common also but it was the first time I ever saw it ????

 

[cypressfarms]

Can a long horn heifer produce enough milk on two quarters to raise a calf ... My guess is not likely.. You will get nothing for them as a cow calf pair unless the buyers are blind. I would sell them as splits or sell the cow now and bottle feed or graft the calf onto another now. It looks more like something genetic ,rather than an injury, but who knows.
Good luck.

The calf is not getting a lot of milk, no doubt about it - I'm not sure she's going to make it, but she's a spunky fighter. I'm not about to bring this calf up and start bottle feeding though. All I have in the cow is $250 (plus hay over the winter), so it's not like a big money situation. I can't see them bringing less than $250 - but hey you never know.

When we got these longhorns I agreed to keep them if they were docile, and if they produced a calf every year. On the other hand, I promised my girls that I'd keep the heifer calves - sell the steers ofcourse. I was hoping to cross them with a charolais and add some meat.

So ofcourse my daughters want to keep this heifer calf. It boils down to two choices. Sell the both of them in the next week or two, or keep them until the calf is weaned and sell them moma (Ofcourse, I'd have to check the calf out to make sure that she had four normal shaped teats).

Funny, if this was one of my "good" cows, I wouldn't think twice about culling them both - but with kids involved everything changes.

 

[farmwriter]

Okay, ours is a lil different, but here goes:
One of my longhorns has a nice looking udder as she prepares to calf and when she's dry, but once the calf starts nursing, the front quarters seem to stop producing. I don't know why, and her back two quarters continue to look normal. What I can tell you is that her calves have been some of the best looking feeder steers we've butchered - they really grew out well on a half-normal udder and were good sized by the time they were processed.
BUT- it absolutely does not look like your pic. Rather, she sort of seems to just dry up in the front. And this year is the first she's had a heifer, so that's another issue of its own.
In our situation though, the steer calves have grown out fine on 2 quarters compared to our other LH cross steers.

 

[hillsdown]

What about selling the cow and letting your girls bottle feed the calf Cypress, they would love it. AND Dad would be their hero .. :heart:

I know it would cost more to bottle feed her than what you paid for the bred cow but, the happiness of your children is priceless... :nod:

Daughters pull at your heart strings and sometimes as dads you need to give in (within reason) just ask my dad.. ;-)

 

[cypressfarms]

What about selling the cow and letting your girls bottle feed the calf Cypress, they would love it. AND Dad would be their hero .. :heart:

I know it would cost more to bottle feed her than what you paid for the bred cow but, the happiness of your children is priceless... :nod:

Daughters pull at your heart strings and sometimes as dads you need to give in (within reason) just ask my dad.. ;-)

I was thinking of that, but I could see myself wind up feeding it - and I quit raising bucket calves after my dad made me do it as a kid. So far the calf is still alert and active - so I'm assuming she's getting enough to keep her going - she's getting close to a week old. We're checking on her pretty regular, though, and if she drops down then I'll make the decision to bring up and feed or not.