Swollen hocks on show steer

[segersmom]

My son's steer has swollen hocks.  The left is worse than the right, and the swelling is mostly on the front of the hock and the ball of the hock.  He moves normally and is still playful and energetic.  Any ideas on what can cause this.  I should probably tell you that he weighed 1175 on Saturday, and his toes are long.  He's getting his feet done sometime this week.  I don't know enough about cattle to know how to fix it.  He does not show pain and there is no heat.  :-\

 

[Dozer45]

is there alot of heat in the joint? My steer last year would get puffy legs after being in the blocking chute a long time. Kinda like how our fingers are all puffy in the morning when we wake up

 

[segersmom]

No heat in the joint.  At this point, I'm just not sure what to think.

 

[jlingle]

Don't drain them & don't allow anybody else to drain them.  Words of wisdom.....  It'll go away.

 

[fed_champions]

Swelling on the hocks is most commonly caused by a stucture problem. The body inserts extra fluid in the joints to reduce pain and friction. Though relatively sound, he probably has a slight problem that has caused this. If u decide to drain them, get someone, who knows what he is doing, to drain it the night before the show, but this is illegal and will cause them to swell more after a couple of days.

 

[Dusty]

Swelling on the hocks is most commonly caused by a stucture problem. The body inserts extra fluid in the joints to reduce pain and friction. Though relatively sound, he probably has a slight problem that has caused this. If u decide to drain them, get someone, who knows what he is doing, to drain it the night before the show, but this is illegal and will cause them to swell more after a couple of days.

How is that illegal???  You are not giving it any drugs...

 

[shufly]

The neighbor had this problem last year on a steer (and it was a structural problem) but he gave a shot of dex and it helped.

 

[jeff1685]

call ur vet a get some depo medrol

 

[j3cattleco]

Another thing you can do is get a good mineral that is Chelated.  Essential Nutrition sells one and other companies make one.  We have seen drastic help with this on a good Chelated Mineral.

Joshua

 

[fed_champions]

Swelling on the hocks is most commonly caused by a stucture problem. The body inserts extra fluid in the joints to reduce pain and friction. Though relatively sound, he probably has a slight problem that has caused this. If u decide to drain them, get someone, who knows what he is doing, to drain it the night before the show, but this is illegal and will cause them to swell more after a couple of days.

How is that illegal???  You are not giving it any drugs...

Its illegal cuz ur  sticking  a needle in the hock. If a  show  official catches u, u will be kicked out. Thats why everyone does it late at night in the tie-outs.

 

[farmboy]

so its only illegal because he was poked with a needle?  :

 

[thunderdownunder]

My son's steer has swollen hocks.  The left is worse than the right, and the swelling is mostly on the front of the hock and the ball of the hock.  He moves normally and is still playful and energetic.  Any ideas on what can cause this.  I should probably tell you that he weighed 1175 on Saturday, and his toes are long.  He's getting his feet done sometime this week.  I don't know enough about cattle to know how to fix it.  He does not show pain and there is no heat.   :-\

Don't drain them. This sort of swelling is quite common in animals on a high protein ration. It doesn't bother them, and will eventually go away. I've seen lots of bulls with swollen hocks because of the feed that has been pumped into them to get them to a show/sale.

Another reason for the swelling is quite simply 'growing pains'. Even animals that aren't on feed get this. It doesn't bother, doesn't cause them any pain and there's no heat.

I've noticed that a lot of people don't even realise their animals are swollen because of the hair on the legs- we probably notice it more here because of the short fine coats our cattle have most of the year.

Either way, I wouldn't worry. If you are feeding him a lot, or very high protei rations, just back it off for a bit until they go down.

 

[The Show]

It's only illegal if you get caught 

 

[afhm]

Sometimes they will grow into them and they will disappear when they get older, but not always.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

My son's steer had swollen hocks at our last show in February.  It caused him to walk really stiff, and the Judge noticed it right off.  The reserve steer was stiff on the front legs, so after picking the two apart, the Judge put us in third.  He was a good steer otherwise, and would have likely been reserve if not for those hocks.  Our vet said we could not give Dex injections  as our show is terminal, but could administer Dex orally.  Did not help much.  Good luck. 

 

[segersmom]

Thank you all for the advice and kind words.  I will not be draining his hocks, cuz I'm not a fan of needles and joints.  (I'm a horse person and I've seen joint injections go wrong.)  He is not stiff at all; in fact, he moves very well.

Thanks again.  You guys rock!  I love this forum.  <rock> <beer> (thumbsup)  (Can you tell I'm a fan?  LOL)

 

[TMJ Show Cattle]

Along with the other advice you have been given, prolonged standing on concrete can promote hock swelling also. most of the time it is genetics though. DON"T DRAIN!! period. using chelated minerals will help,but not so much in show cattle. If you feed chelated minerals to your cows,then it will help the calves you raise. You haven't said whetherthe calf is home raised or has been bought. My choice of chelated minerals comes from VITA FERM of St. Joseph, Missouri.

 

[segersmom]

TMJ, thanks for the reply.

He was bought.  I'm interested in genetics, but I'm not quite ready to raise cattle.

He is never on concrete, so that's not the problem.  I kind of wish it were.  The vet said give him more exercise, and that it was not anything to really worry about.

 

[BuddyG]

Draining the fluid is considered unethical fitting.  That is why in the previous posts they were saying it is illegal to do it.

 

[vc]

We had a steer with the same problem, seem to be from being tied in the stall and laying around doing nothing all day. We ran cold water over it everytime they rinsed and it went away after about a week. If it is not bothering him and he is moving fine, it should dissipate over time.

Good luck