We have a new Dexter heifer calf who was born 3 days ago. She has 2 odd things, one she has silver eyes. Second she has 2 umbilical cords. We took her in to the Vet. who said the 2 cords were unusual but OK. I forgot to ask about her eyes. Anyone ever seen a cow with silver eyes? Patt
Yes she can see fine. Her pupils are normal it's just the Irises are silver instead of brown or black. Patt
Seems like she's healthy so I don't know that I'd worry about her that much. It seems she's a bit abnormal so I'd do some thinking before it was time to breed her. Her eye color may come from a mineral deficiency and for the life of me, I know I heard about the cause and treatment but for the life of me, I can't remember where. We had a calf with light colored eyes (not quite silver) and they did become normal after a week or so but he displayed symptoms of limited vision and his vision problems cleared up as the color returned to normal.
I tease my kids that the cows turn into vampires on Halloween. If they saw a silver-eyed cow, they'd probably run screaming...LOL. I've never seen anything like that. Jena
Try giving her an A, D & E vitamin shot, for some reason, I keep thinking it's either one of those or a trace of something in the vitamins that you need. It sure won't hurt her.
Here's a website that describes the condition...albino eyes. Look under the eye section: http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/beef/g759.htm#ed
Wow I would love to see this! Of all the cows I have seen silver eyes are new. The vet didn't seemed to concerned - ask why. Maybe a general blood work up is in order. When I bred cows in PA one of my customers had a pink cow. Not a shocking pink but pink and perfectly healthy. So this could be just a genetic thing. Pink cows, silver eyed cows what could be next?
Ita our calf is dunn, right now she's a nice hershey bar chocolate brown. Her mother is black and so is her older brother. They both have normal black eyes. Unfortunately I don't know what color her father was because I got her mother at an auction. Her owner had died about 9 months before the sale and she was about 6 weeks bred when we got her so it's probably due to some inbreeding that caused a genetic problem to show up. So far she shows no signs of being photosensitive. And her eyes are still solid silver (no outer brown ring) at a week old. We'll be breeding both her and her mother to our Highland bull to use strictly as milk cows and the calves will be freezer beef so I don't think there will be any problems down the road. Thanks for the advice and info! Patt
Patt, my Dun Dexter calf had eyes that were very light, although I wouldn't call them silver. They do have different colored eyes than the black Dextres, my calf is about 4 months old now and her eyes are a sort of greyish hazel color, could that be what you are seeing? As for the 2 umbilicals, beats me, what did the vet actually say about it? I love the Dun color, especially the ones that are that rich chocolate brown color. Carol
Patt, forgot to ask, can you get a picture of the eyes? It would be very interesting to see them, if you can, could you e mail it to me? Let me know and I'll give you my e mail address. Thanks, Carol
I'll see if I can't get one tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if they darken as she goes along. They're exactly the same color as the calf in the first photo at this link: http://skyway.usask.ca/~schmutz/conditions.html The vet said they actually have 2 cords one goes to the kidneys and one to the liver they just don't usually hang outside like that. It's drying up OK now though and she's doing great. Patt
Is it possible that the cow could be a product of inbreeding? The only animals/humans I have known with silver eyes are products of breeding between two *very close* relatives. Just a thought.
Oh, thanks Patte. I didn't see the above post. I have a friend who went to the pasture one day to find an albino colt with silver eyes. It had just been born. She did not even know his mother had been pregnant because the only ones in the pasture at the time were two horses who were brother and sister. The sister was older, but the brother was still quite young. She did not know he was cabable of breeding. So, to make a long story short, they named that little albino colt "Secret."
