Calf born with no eyes,

ADHDan

Member
had a calf born this morning with no eyes , seems a decent little calf, was up and suckling but no eyes inside the sockets .
I haven’t had any positive BVD results “yet” so id like to assume that’s not it, I’m going to get the vet to come and test just to make sure; the cow was a Holstein and I read there’s something genetic it could be but I can’t remember having a calf with no eyes before so probably not that either , because last year was shite for silage we fed a lot of straw to bulk it out, the Holstein cows I’ve got left obviously suffered the most from this diet over the Hereford etc , I’m wondering if a sh!t diet during the beginning of pregnancy could of caused it?
Thanks
Dan

Also., has anyone raised a blind calf through , how’d it go? More trouble then it’s worth I’m guessing & a danger
 
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redsloe

Member
Location
Cornwall
We had one several years ago, didn't have a tail either.
Suckler cow, reared it on but I can't remember what happened in the end. Don't recall any disaster!
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
Shoot it now, as it gets older it will get dangerous, I say this from experience!! Ok while it’s glued to the cow but when it gets away from her it’ll go through or over or into every obstacle it comes across
 

Old Tip

Member
Location
Cumbria
We have one, it’s about ten months old now, sucked it’s mother till we weaned it, probably bet it bu in the spring so it’s not a nuisance next summer. Our vet said the cow may have been stressed towards the end of pregnancy as the eyes are one of the last things to form.
I put it down to dosing the cow with flukecide about a month before calving but may be just a coincidence
 

Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
Had a lamb with one eye in the centre of it's forehead, several with small sunken eyes and two foals the same. Shot the lambs and one foal, the other foal wasn't too bad and I only noticed it because of the first one. It did turn out OK. The condition is called microphasia (?) and apparently it occurs in all species, even humans. One of Nature's experiments.
 
Location
Cleveland
I’d shoot it it’s one of them things you’ll have to arse on with everyday then if it survives it’ll probably find another reason to die later on in life
Had two lambs born off the same ewe this year with no eye balls between them…they’ve been in a grass paddock all summer and haven’t had to touch them once. They sucked as well as a lamb with eyes…buck jumping about and now eating pellet
 

Scholsey

Member
Location
Herefordshire
had a calf born this morning with no eyes , seems a decent little calf, was up and suckling but no eyes inside the sockets .
I haven’t had any positive BVD results “yet” so id like to assume that’s not it, I’m going to get the vet to come and test just to make sure; the cow was a Holstein and I read there’s something genetic it could be but I can’t remember having a calf with no eyes before so probably not that either , because last year was shite for silage we fed a lot of straw to bulk it out, the Holstein cows I’ve got left obviously suffered the most from this diet over the Hereford etc , I’m wondering if a sh!t diet during the beginning of pregnancy could of caused it?
Thanks
Dan

Also., has anyone raised a blind calf through , how’d it go? More trouble then it’s worth I’m guessing & a danger

the biggest decision you have to make is which blind famous person you name it after, we had a stevie because ours was a Hereford X……..
 
We had piglets born with no hole in their behinds occasionally - imperforate anus , they called it . We never tried to open them up , it never seemed worth while , just knocked them in the head and put them into the dead'ole .
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Millions of the human population are born with out brains. They survive and breed with great success and learn to milk the welfare system while having the remaining humans working to keep them. The most brainless of the poor souls born this way have no option but to go into politics and blunder thru life wrecking what others have worked to achieve, a sad existence for these dumb f ers
 

Blaithin

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Alberta
I’ve heard of people having good luck putting a bell on the cow. Gives the calf something to recognize and follow. Unless it’s just going to be a bottle calf? I’d say it’s worth to a shot to raise it in a safe and comfortable pen for a bit. Eventually you can have a good bit of rose veal or young meat from it for your freezer.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
had a calf born this morning with no eyes , seems a decent little calf, was up and suckling but no eyes inside the sockets .
I haven’t had any positive BVD results “yet” so id like to assume that’s not it, I’m going to get the vet to come and test just to make sure; the cow was a Holstein and I read there’s something genetic it could be but I can’t remember having a calf with no eyes before so probably not that either , because last year was shite for silage we fed a lot of straw to bulk it out, the Holstein cows I’ve got left obviously suffered the most from this diet over the Hereford etc , I’m wondering if a sh!t diet during the beginning of pregnancy could of caused it?
Thanks
Dan

Also., has anyone raised a blind calf through , how’d it go? More trouble then it’s worth I’m guessing & a danger
We had a major issue years ago with a lack of vitamin A.the minerals we fed them had zero vitA in them.caused fat cattle to go blind.an the heifers which were bulled inside,once calved had no eyes or were born blind.
Thoses cattle didn't get any silage at that time.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Had a calf that was blind that we put down to no colostrum. Turned out its mother had 2 blind teats and 2 full of mastitis.
Reared it on bottle, then out to grass with a couple mates. It was fine and very quiet, though would walk in circles if stressed. Biggest issue was having to manage it separately with a couple mates, but not a major problem.
Went in the freezer at 26/7 months old and was delicious.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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