Has anyone seen anything like this?

[inthebarnagain]

This is a brand new heifer that was born late last night/early this morning.  Notice the left front leg, that is the size of a baseball that has been split in half and put on her knee.  It is hard as a rock, like bone and there is absolutely no heat in it at all.  She doesn't limp and acts like a perfectly normal calf.  Even when I was at Purdue, I never saw anything like it.

 

[worthabit]

I haven't seen that before. Were you there when it was born? I take it the joint works fine? Could it be a calcium deposit? ???  Those look like very short legs, but you say everything is normal eh?

 

[jason]

???

 

[inthebarnagain]

I think the legs look short because of the angle that I was shooting at, kind of downwards.  She is a perfectly normal 80# calf other than that huge lump.  Matter of fact, a couple of minutes after I took the picture she was a couple a hundred feet away from me following the cow.  It feels like a calcium deposit but most of the time that is from an injury and takes months to form that size.  Blows my mind that a newborn calf would have one that size!

 

[braunvieh]

Never seen anything like it. Are you near a vet school? If so I would notify them and see what they think. Glad to hear the calf is getting around good.

 

[red]

when I had a calf w/ swollen knees Cowboy told me it was probably navel infection. But this calf was a couple of weeks old. Can it be drained or is that an option?

Red

 

[OH Breeder]

If a vet tries needle asperation it may help. Sometime fluid if compact enough and thick enough can feel solid. I definitely would have a vet examine it. What if it is a odd ball cancer or malformation of a joint etc. Never hurts to have them buggers checked out.

 

[jason]

One would think it would be fluid buildup, but you said it was hard like a bone, got me beat

 

[shorthorngirl2010]

A couple years ago, we had a horrible winter, with calves w/ this 'symptom' (swollen joint, stiff to hard) showing up left and right.  Come to find out, it was navel ill, we drained a most, some went down, some didnt.  But where this calf is a newborn, you honestly have me stumped  ???