Cow with broken leg

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:08 pm

I sold a shortie last year and it has had to be put down because she broke a leg in the field. The owner is a bit mystified as was the vet. Shame because apart from anything else she was a really nice cow from my best line, and 7 months pregnant as well! I suppose it could have been a rabbit or post hole, but I was just thinking, could it be anything to do with chrondrodysplasia? Does that cause leg problems that could lead to a broken bone?

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:14 am

Which bone did she break and in which leg?
If anything, the leg bones from non-short Dexter skeles I have prepped are less likely to be liable to break because, like the animals themselves, they are robust for their size.
I had to have one of my short-legged cows put down because of a dislocated hip, but this happens in big cows too. I also know of a short-legged cow that had to be put down because of a weak stifle joint that kept slipping out.
Having done a couple of practicals now chopping up beef bones for analysis, it takes considerable force to break a clean bone, even knowing where the weaker sections of the shaft are.
I'm sure Duncan can give more info, but if there was an infection within the bone marrow cavity, that could cause the bone to break. There was a case locally with a racehorse where this happened.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:53 am

I don't much else Louisa, I found out about it months afterwards, but the field they were in was flat and I don't think the owner knew of any holes which is why they were puzzled. He said it was a front leg. She was only about 6 or 7 so nothing would be brittle. It could have been a scrap with another cow or like a horse I saw break a leg once, just landed awkwardly and snap. I thought it might be a shortie thing because of the awkward gait which to me means the joints aren't working as they were designed to, therefore putting stresses on the joints. You know how a long-leg glides fore and aft but a shortie has a sort of waddle and their "elbows" stick out. That made me think of the horse who was just gently cantering around a ménage and snap.....had to shoot it. But he was no shortie, he was 17.2!