Expert: Karin - 7/10/2011

Question
Hi
We have a 3 month old calf with a broken leg, she attempted to jump a gate in the yards and didn't make it, she was hanging almost upside down for nearly an hour while we tried to free her, poor thing.
This was 3 days ago, we've put her in a pen with 2 other poddy calves so we can keep an eye on here, she's eating and drinking well and looks bright and alert, also her nose is wet.  
She has a lot of swelling, the break is just above the hock on her back leg, and the swelling goes right up into her flank. She seems a bit sore on it when you push it and prod it.  She has a small wound but we've kept it very clean and are pretty certain there's no infection.
As hard as we try, we can't get her to stand up, she insists on lying down the whole time.  
My partner says nature will take it's course, but I want to do everything I can for her to make her comfortable and to hopefully help her recover.  
We don't have any vets out here locally that we could get to come and look at her and my partner says it's not worth it as to him, she's just another one of the many beef cattle his family have but to me she's one of our babies now and I want to do what I can for her.
Do you have any advice? Is it ok to let her stay lying down or should we force her to get up?
Thank you very much
Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy,

The thing about calves is that the little buggers just keep growing and growing.  When they grow, their bones, if broken, will heal faster, much more so than a cow's, and thus it is just fine to keep the calf alive with a broken leg.  I wouldn't poke and prod the injury, as it obviously is quite sore (and I doubt you would want someone coming up to you to poke and prod your broken leg!), and nor would I force a calf with a broken leg to keep getting up all the time.  

So I don't see it viable to put the calf down when such a calf can simply heal and grow as he will.  What I would do is put a splint on the leg (preferably a dog splint, one that is able to go quite high up the calf's leg past the flanks), and wrap it in place with adhesive tape as high up as you can go. Make sure the splint fits the leg is padded first before you wrap it to the leg. You will have to remove the old tape and replace it to adjust for the growth of the leg (usually after a couple weeks) once or twice. The splint should be secure and snug enough so it can withstand the abuse of a calf wanting to run or walk around on it.

And finally, I wouldn't force the calf to get up more than she has to.  Put her in an area where she's warm and dry (preferably a barn of some sort with straw for enough padding to keep her from getting hot spots when laying down) and where she can't hurt herself anymore.  Like with humans, if she wants to lay down, then just let her be.  But I think the splint may help her get up and around a bit more.  Also, I think one shot of dexamethasone or penicillin may help to reduce inflammation and infection and speed recovery.

Good luck with her!

-Karin