calf question

[Chris in WI]

I will appreciate any help I can get with this. I left home around mid morning today and my 2 day old calf was fine. When I came back (I was gone for about 6 hours), I found it was under the front axle of a hay wagon. It could still move around, but couldn"t get out. I picked the front of the wagon up with the skid loader and got him out. Now when he stands up, his ankles on his hind legs are backwards and somewhat stiff. The best way to describe it is he basically is standing on what should be the top of his ankle. Will this get better on its own or what can I do about it. I can"t get a vet out until sometime tommorow.
Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[greenbeanman in Kansas]

I have had calves on rare occasions in the past like that and they always got better after a few days. Try to confine it to a fairly small area so he is standing and exercising on them some but not really stressing them from long use.

 

[Deerehunter]

This happens to us with one or two calves a year but usually its the front hoof buckling over. What happens is, before the calf is born, the tendons in the lower leg are tight and don't allow the hoof to move, forcing the calf to walk on his ankle joints. One vet told us it was a lack of vitamin A in the feed and the other vet across town said it was genetics, brought in from a new bull. Not sure who to beleive. We take a piece of wooden lath and duck tape it to the front of the hoof, forcing the tendons to stretch. Usually after a week the calf is walking on his own. This may or may not be the problem with your calf. If it is, getting caught under the wagon had nothing to do with it. Will be interesting to hear what your vet says. DH in NW NE.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I had one this year with the same situation, although it was caused from birth trauma and it sounds like your calf was OK previously. If it was caused by some other trauma (which I suspect) and not some other problem, the thing will be fine as long as you can confine the calf and cow somewhere. If left to range, the cow may just keep on pushing the calf to move until it stresses out. I confined my cow and calf in the barn for 3 days before he was able to start walking on hoves properly again. After that he was fine, although he was slow for a few weeks.