Blind Calf

[Lasserade]

We have a calf born Sunday, who is blind/partially sighted.
We had to have the vet out to see his mother as she had a retained placenta, and was looking very sorry for herself. The vet had a look at him and confirmed he was blind and said that he had no aqueous humours in his eyes.

I would like to ask
1) Is this a known genetic defect in either cattle or Dexters in particular.
2) Should this be notified to the society?
3) Has anyone here had to deal with a blind calf?

He had had difficulty feeding because of course he needs guidance in finding his mothers udder and she is proving to be not very helpful in this. She has had 3 other calves, but from the first day she has not shown the usual interest in him I would expect. I would describe her attentions as Hovering but not Fully Bonded!
My inclination is to hand rear him as his mother is not as protective as he will need, but I don't have another calf to put him with.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Chrissie H.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Sorry to hear of this, it is sad when a wee creature is just not what it should have been. One possibility is that some infection in the cow has damaged the calf as it developed, it may not be possible to say exactly what, but one possiblility would be BVD, which is recognised as producing eye defects. Ask your vet, and think about testing both the cow and the calf for both antibodies to BVD and BVD antigen. If either or both are antigen positive for BVD you need to condsider what to do to limit the infection in your herd. But that is just one possibility - ask your vet, I do not know your local disease situation but he/she should. I am not aware of any identified genetic problems particular to dexters in this respect.

Duncan

[LISA]

Hello I am very sorry about your calf.

If he is blind I think the most humane thing would be to have him put to sleep.

Cows seem to instinctively know when there is something seriously wrong with their calf and abandon them, which is what your cow seems to be trying to do. In the wild the calf would not be able to feed and would die naturally, as nature would intend.

Imagine the poor quality of life this calf will have, even for Beef production (not economical either)

I am sorry to be blunt but we do have a moral duty as well.

Best Wishes

Lisa Bell

[Saffy]

I tend to agree with Lisa and will add that when moving from field to field you will likely have terrible problems when it is bigger.

Stephanie

[Broomcroft]

I've heard of people bringing up blind lambs and amazed at how they get around and seem to know where everything is. BUT, do you (or a child) really want to be anywhere near a 300-400kg beast that can't see? If the problem is incurable, I'd personally put it down even if it looked like it might manage as a youngster. But that's just my personal opinion.

[Louisa Gidney]

I'd rear him on his mum. My second bull, Dalmuir Cyclone, was blind like this. I bought him as a 6 month old weaned calf and never had any problems with his lack of sight. It was not an inheritable condition as I still have one of his daughters, aged 19 now, and no problems with any of her calves or descendants. Also, I've seen bulls wearing a Bull Blind so lack of vision can be actively promulgated, like horse blinkers.

[natmadaboutdexters]

we bought in a blind Simmental Calf at a week old a few years ago to rear on a bucket and then sell for beef. He did very well and had no trouble with feeding. He got to know where the water trough and the feed trough were in the pen and knew the perimeter of the pen so didnt crash into the gates etc. Our only problem was getting him out of the pen to weigh/load him as of course he didnt realise that we had opened the gate so kept stopping at the entrance to the pen. He was a very docile bull and easy to handle which obviously made our job easier.

Natasha

[ann]

If you do decide to keep him I would suggest you halter train him and get him use to following a bucket initially, then you will have no problems moving him if and when you need to, unfortunately you may find you get so fond of him as he is going to be quite dependent on you. good luck what ever path you choose.

[domsmith]

Bucket feed him for 6 months then use him for veal. i would BVD test him if you havent already, that might decide for you.

i am stubborn and wouldnt give up on him, but the thought of a blind adult beast does worry me.

i have 2 blind sheep and a calf with 1 eye at the moment, its amazing how they adapt as they know know differently.

good luck
dom

[Saffy]

Blind sheep seem to manage don't they but cattle blunder about at speed, especially if something panics them and then they are a danger to themselves and everything else. Yes good idea to try to hand rear and veal but not put it in a field. Sometimes animals can surprise with their sensitivity but I wouldn't want to rely on it for my future safety.

Stephanie