Two days ago I went to check on a cow in labor and found a dead heifer calf - my immediate response was "bovine guilt" HOWEVER! as I opened the calves mouth I realized that she had a CLEFT PALATE but no other obvious abnormalities. Necropsy of the calf revealed HYDROCEPHALUS
Now I went back through my notes and discovered other breeders in other states has Shorthorn heifer calves with cleft palate and hydrocephalus - I believe we have 5 or 6 samples from affected calves as well as sire and dam - if you have a Shorthorn calf that is born dead check the mouth before you throw it into the dead pile - if it has a cleft palate get a full necropsy and save samples.
The first picture is the cleft palate - if you feel the roof of the mouth you notice that it is not smooth and continuous like it should be. The 2nd picture is the head of a calf with hydrocephalus - this hydrocephalus is obvious grossly (ie the head is misshapen) and the 3rd picture is a cross section of the head of a calf with cleft palate and hydrocephalus - you can see that inside the skull there is a big empty space and the brain is pushed down toward the neck because of the pressure from the extra fluid
Now I went back through my notes and discovered other breeders in other states has Shorthorn heifer calves with cleft palate and hydrocephalus - I believe we have 5 or 6 samples from affected calves as well as sire and dam - if you have a Shorthorn calf that is born dead check the mouth before you throw it into the dead pile - if it has a cleft palate get a full necropsy and save samples.
The first picture is the cleft palate - if you feel the roof of the mouth you notice that it is not smooth and continuous like it should be. The 2nd picture is the head of a calf with hydrocephalus - this hydrocephalus is obvious grossly (ie the head is misshapen) and the 3rd picture is a cross section of the head of a calf with cleft palate and hydrocephalus - you can see that inside the skull there is a big empty space and the brain is pushed down toward the neck because of the pressure from the extra fluid