Walking on Hocks

[lazyhill]

A friend gave us a heifer calf that cannot properly stand because she has bad leg muscles and walks on her hocks. Our friends vet put braces on her legs to strengthen them and get her to walk right. My vet is unsure if this will solve the issue. My daughter has taken to the calf and likewise it has taken to her. It has become her mission to try to save this calf.

Has anyone ever seen this before and bothered to try to correct the calf? If so, what did you do.

 

[txag]

A friend gave us a heifer calf that cannot properly stand because she has bad leg muscles and walks on her hocks. Our friends vet put braces on her legs to strengthen them and get her to walk right. My vet is unsure if this will solve the issue. My daughter has taken to the calf and likewise it has taken to her. It has become her mission to try to save this calf.

Has anyone ever seen this before and bothered to try to correct the calf? If so, what did you do.

how old is the calf? sometimes they will grow out of it with time as they get stronger.

 

[lazyhill]

The calf just turned 3 weeks old. I had heard that from another breeder but found it hard to believe that without some sort of change in diet, care, etc. that a calf could grow out of it. I hope that you are right.

Thanks!

 

[la4angus]

My first thought is: How will a brace support the leg and strengthen the muscle at the same time. I would think that the brace would weaken the muscle. Have you ever noticed how a persons leg or arm looks when taken out of a cast; which is pretty much the same as a brace.
Wish you luck.
You got some good looking longhorns.
I will look that heifer up again. The older one that is sprouting some about 4" horns. Good color on her.

 

[txag]

My first thought is: How will a brace support the leg and strengthen the muscle at the same time. I would think that the brace would weaken the muscle. Have you ever noticed how a persons leg or arm looks when taken out of a cast; which is pretty much the same as a brace.
Wish you luck.
You got some good looking longhorns.
I will look that heifer up again. The older one that is sprouting some about 4" horns. Good color on her.

we had a set of twins this year and one of them had weak hocks. we didn't use braces & he was walking fine after about a week. i would think 3 weeks might be a little long but i'm sure there's always a chance. good luck.

 

[Arancher]

The times i've seen this is when i had to pull the calf.The calf walked like you said for app 2 to 3 days before i could get a hand on her. I cut two pieces of 1 and a half pvc pipe about 4 in. long and split down the middle.Once you have the calf cut a piece of pipe isulation the lenght of the pvc and place it between the pvc and the skin to protect against scaring. Once you have the splints on wrap it up with tape. I left this on for a couple of weeks and worked like a dream.