Strange and very sad

dosthouhavemilk · #1 08/07/05, 05:38 PM

The school had at least 10 Jerseys due this month. Two were due the 3rd (Paulette and Sapphire). Sapphire finally calved on Saturday and 841 (not sure on her name) did as well. Both had heifer calves. 841s is a beautiful spotted creature out of Bold (ick). Sapphire's...well, look at the photos;
Strange and very sad - Cattle

I checked after taking the pictures and she does not have an anal opening.

Which means she is going to become impacted and die from toxicity. Please pray for a quick death for it. It has already begun this afternoon. She is lethargic and wouldn't drink.
Dad says it looks like an extreme case of RVC (Rectal Vaginal Constriction). The sire is a test sire (they use a lot of them at the school). So hopefully Don will report it back to the stud service and check Sapphire's genetic history for RVC carriers.

Carol K · #2 08/07/05, 05:56 PM

Hi,
very sad, but I don't understand why they wouldn't get a vet in to put this calf out of it's misery and stop any pain it may be going through. I know if it were one of mine I would. Thank you for sharing though, it's the way we all learn.

Carol

dosthouhavemilk · #3 08/07/05, 06:26 PM

$50 to have the vet out and kill her.
Dairy farm, no money to use.
I hope they do that or that Mike shoots her. I won't know until next weekend.

willow_girl · #4 08/07/05, 08:21 PM

Oh, my word! I have never heard of such a thing. Good grief!

Just curious; could this be surgically corrected, if someone had the means and inclination?

dosthouhavemilk · #5 08/07/05, 08:31 PM

I don't know. RVC is genetic though, and since she was born this way it is doubtful she would ever settle.
I couldn't tell from feeling whether there was anything just below the surface or not. It really is not positioned properly.

ellebeaux · #6 08/07/05, 09:34 PM

I'm so sorry for this little calf. What an awful event.

My heart goes out to you and I hope that you are able to support the students and yourself through this.

Beaux

agmantoo · #7 08/07/05, 10:06 PM

If the school cannot afford the $50 to put the calf out of its misery cannot someone take the lead and perform the task themselves? Letting the calf die a horrible death is unjustifiable IMO. That ---- rope tied to its head is uncalled for also.

john in la · #8 08/07/05, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dosthouhavemilk

$50 to have the vet out and kill her.
Dairy farm, no money to use.
I hope they do that or that Mike shoots her. I won't know until next weekend.

Save the $50 and take a maul and hit it in the head.
Every dairy farmer has had to do it a few times before.

dosthouhavemilk · #9 08/08/05, 04:39 AM

I'm hoping Mike will shoot her today. He has the gun and the guts to do it. Mind you, Don only found out yesterday, after a very long day, that she is terminal. He was extremely tired and it is quite possible Mike will decide to do something.

As for the halter. That was placed on her by me because I needed her in the sunlight where the pictures would show up! I had figured I was taking her outside and since they are right beside a busy road I wanted something to grab if she decided to take off. She actually has a very large pen in which to be. Could you not tell that she was not being held by anything in the picture? Or are you just allowing yourself to find the littlest thing to get ****ed off about?

Ronney · #10 08/08/05, 06:00 AM

Hi Roseanne,
Please don't snap at Agman, he probably feels exactly the same way as I do in that an animal born in that condition should be disposed of immediately - and I do mean immediately. It is a gross and painful way for them to die and a smash over the head or a bullet is far preferable. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to have much in the way of a tail either?

There are two conditions and are more commonly seen in pigs but are no means restricted to them. One is imperforate anus in which the animal is born with no anul opening at all and it sounds as though your calf falls into this category. The other is Rectal Stricture Syndrome in which the animal is born with an normal anus but as it gets older the anus closes and they can no longer pass manure. Both will result in death. Both can be surgically treated but as this is an expensive undertaking, is rarely done. As these conditions are genetic, the dam should be culled.

Having said that, until recently I owned a sow that every four litters or so would throw a piglet with an imperorate anus. I have kept replacement sows from her and the condition was never passed on. I also had the sister and she never gave birth to piglets with the condition. Luck of the draw? Who knows.

I hope Mike did the right thing.

Cheers,
Ronnie

dosthouhavemilk · #11 08/08/05, 12:41 PM

People are acting as though I find it acceptable, so why isn't it suprising that on top of having to deal with it face to face and having people telling me I'm a horrible person, that I snap at them?

They aren't my animals, I don't have much of a say. I planted the seed and usually they listen, but not always. One would hope that Mike went ahead and shot her, or even better they had a vet out to find out for sure that my diagnosis was correct. I'm not a vet, but I sure couldn't find any anal opening and I know what happens when they cannot pass manure...I've raised lots of infants and I know they require that or they die. Mike wouldn't have found out til this morning, unless he checked her previously. Mike is the calf raiser, I work there every weekend and they are my repsonsibilty then, but ion the end I don't have much of a say.
The RVC in extreme cases would apparently cause this. There was no tail at all, it was as though she was missing an entire section of her backbone. Ten years ago they had a calf born with a tail that was only as long as Don's pinky, she made it to her first lactation.