Question for the cattlemen

I've never run into this in my 40 years of cattle. Here's one for the brain trust.

I had a first calf heifer deliver a calf early. It must have been close to a month early by my guess. It was smaller than any of the dogs, but got up, sucked, and had plenty of vigor. Fast forward to now (she was a November baby). She isn't growing. Moms milk has dried up (she never was a big bag heifer) but little "Olive" eats at the creep feeder and puts away the groceries. I have her and her mom in a lot with my registered bull calf and his mom. She eats just as much as the bull calf who is three times her size and six weeks younger. The calves born this week are as big as she is. She is big through the gut but those spindly legs haven't grown any. Her body processes feed normally and she gets corn and good brome from the creep feeder. I'm about to cut my losses with her and sell her as veal. I've thought about running her and mom to the sale as a pair because she looks so young. Her first ear tag stretched out her ear (cartilage wasn't hard enough I guess) so she has a skater punk stretched hole in her ear and a tag in the other. That's the only give away that she's not a young calf.

Has anyone had one that didn't grow? She looks just like a little deer - that kind of build but a larger torso. Her mother was one of my own that I kept back and none of her sisters in the herd delivered a calf like this. I'm guessing something didn't develop in her brain or pituitary gland?

dwarfs- years ago my dad had 150 beef cows ,had 3 different bulls breeding them,had 7 that didnt grow were around 400 pounds at a year old

i would not be surprised if that heifer was infected with BVD at some point while she was pregnant.
Sometimes the calf dies just before or after birth, others become carriers and some are unthrifty like yours and never amount to nothing no matter what you try.
It could also be that the heifer actually just kind of aborted for some reason but the stupid calf lived.
I had one like out of a heifer that was born way early and was about the seize of a lamb and the hooves were still soft, it also had no suck reflex and could not stand on its own.
My wife fed it with a stomach tube for two months before it finally took the bottle and got up by itself and it grew like a weed from then on.
We sold it that fall with the rest of the calves.
I would get rid of both heifer and calf and chalk it up to experience

I will second Bison on this one in that you more than likely have BVD in your herd now. Here is short explanation on BVD and its effect of unborn calves.

"Pregnant animals

If infection is acquired by a cow between 55 and 100 days of gestation, abortion is likely to occur. Another possible outcome of infection before 120 days of gestation is the production of Persistently Infected (PI) calves. These animals will be discussed further below. Infection in the third trimester (180–300 days) can still cause abortion but most commonly produce a normal but seropositive calf due to the immunocompetency of the fetus."

"PI Animals

PI animals are produced when a fetus is infected while partially immunocompetent, thus recognising the viral cells as self and not mounting an immune response. They are therefore antigen positive and antibody negative. PI animals tend to never reach their productive potential, exhibiting stunted growth, reduced fertility and increased susceptibility to other diseases. However, if a PI dam is able to reproduce then their offspring will be PI calves.

These animals are a constant source of virus for other vulnerable members of the herd and therefore a significant risk and a vital target for BVD control programs. They cannot be identified serologically as they are seronegative. PI animals are virus positive so they can be detected by antigen test (e.g. PCR)."


I would test the cow and calf. IF they test positive they would go to slaughter if they where mine. Then you need to start vaccinating for it and other controls.

IF the cow/calf do not test positive for BVD. Then you might has some dwarfism in the blood line of the mother or bull. I would check into that so you do not have more cases of it.

It could also just be that one it 10,000 calves that is just not right. LOL

I've had a couple of small calves like that. Probably weighed 25-30 lbs at birth. Never got over 500-600 lbs full grown. I believe they were dwarfs. I've heard of Hereford dwarfs, but mine were Black Angus.

Not a cattleman but raised a lot of for the freezer over the years. I was given a bull calf out of a 1st time heifer. Too small and weak. She abandoned him from the git go. Never got any colostrum that we know of.

Any way we bottle fed him, kept him in an improved Bermuda grass pasture with regular rations of grain and free choice mineral. At 18 months he was 800lbs when we sent him to the butcher. Meat was just ok. A little tough and mediocre flavor. Very disappointing for the time and money spent on him.

We normally buy a normal healthy weaned calf and finish him out for the freezer. Same pasture,rations etc. with great flavor and very tender.

We don't try to save any small ones any more.

She is not getting enough protein, classic sign is a pot belly and rough hair, the bull calf that is the same age and the new calves are getting milk, the small heifer calf is getting what sounds to be a low protein ration, corn and brome hay. The calfs momma is not worth a second try, feed her up and when the grass gets green in your area take her to the sale.

I had a preemie like that born to an old cow. I kept that thing in the feedlot and fed it until it was 36 months old. The big headed ape looked like an old man in the face and it only weighed 900 pounds when I gave up and shipped it.

Customer of mine has shorthorn cattle. One of the cows had a 120 lb bull calf last Friday and is doing good. This was a 5 time cow.

I've had a couple Angus bucket calves like that, my uncle would ussaully call on a Sunday with a calf too weak to suck or cow wouldn't let suck. He gave them to me for free to try to save most made it some didn't Seemed like they would never gain yet stomachs always were bloated took them to 700lbs and butchered

I should have mentioned - all of the cattle get an 8 way vaccination that includes BVD. I've done it yearly but am going to go with every six months as I am going to switch to live nnalert.

(quoted from post at 11:43:45 02/08/15) I should have mentioned - all of the cattle get an 8 way vaccination that includes BVD. I've done it yearly but am going to go with every six months as I am going to switch to live nnalert.

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s far as i know 8 way doesn't have BVD in it.
BVD came in a 3 way...BVD PI3 and IBR.
But maybe that has changed in the last 20 years.
Live nnalert is better but one has to do it twice between calving and breeding.
The university vet/pathologist in Fairview-Alberta told me,
If you need to vaccinate,..do it with live nnalert...don't waste yer money on modefied live nnalert,..it does not work 100 %,..you can still have infections.

Cause with bison it is impossible to vaccinate between calving and breeding I don't vaccinate at all anymore since 95,..never had a problem since.(knock wood)

There are two strains of BVD and the nnalert is only good on the one. So you can still have the other train. I would ship the calf and heifer out ASAP.

When there born that small to a heifer it takes em a long time to grow if the mother is dry it will never realy grow ive had calves like that that didn't weigh 300 in the fall .