Animal with a broken leg

morphy87

Unfortunately I saw a bullock this morning holding his front foot and after examination I could see it was broken but without a wound or breaking the skin luckily enough,so I put him out by himself and the vet looked at him and he put a cast on, I am just wondering has anyone done this before and if so what was the success rate? He is getting up without any problems and moving and eating the vet said leave on the cast for around 7 to 8 weeks and then we should know how things are going and then recast it

DukeCaboom

morphy87 wrote: »

Unfortunately I saw a bullock this morning holding his front foot and after examination I could see it was broken but without a wound or breaking the skin luckily enough,so I put him out by himself and the vet looked at him and he put a cast on, I am just wondering has anyone done this before and if so what was the success rate? He is getting up without any problems and moving and eating the vet said leave on the cast for around 7 to 8 weeks and then we should know how things are going and then recast it

How old and what weight is he?

Dinzee Conlee

This may be useless to you, but anyways...

Have had 2 sheep with broken legs here over the years. Both time they mended themselves.

Not sure if the same applies to cattle though...

morphy87

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

This may be useless to you, but anyways...

Have had 2 sheep with broken legs here over the years. Both time they mended themselves.

Not sure if the same applies to cattle though...

Thanks anyway did they recover fully?

morphy87

DukeCaboom wrote: »

How old and what weight is he?

18 months 460 kgs

DukeCaboom

morphy87 wrote: »

18 months 460 kgs

Might be alright, it happened years ago here and it healed. Had him in a small shed. Suppose you can never say never.

morphy87

DukeCaboom wrote: »

Might be alright, it happened years ago here and it healed. Had him in a small shed. Suppose you can never say never.

Good to know that have him in a pen by himself anyway did it take long to heal? And did he make a full recovery?

MIKEKC

morphy87 wrote: »

Good to know that have him in a pen by himself anyway did it take long to heal? And did he make a full recovery?

Happened here a few years ago Bullock about 400kg. He got used to the plaster after a few days. Left him in a small paddock. Made a full recovery, can't think how long it took. Vet said the main problem is with younger animals as leg is growing and can rot in plaster

morphy87

MIKEKC wrote: »

Happened here a few years ago Bullock about 400kg. He got used to the plaster after a few days. Left him in a small paddock. Made a full recovery, can't think how long it took. Vet said the main problem is with younger animals as leg is growing and can rot in plaster

So really that is the main danger that the leg could rot in plaster? I would presume if it was starting to rot the bullock wouldn’t thrive?

wrangler

MIKEKC wrote: »

Happened here a few years ago Bullock about 400kg. He got used to the plaster after a few days. Left him in a small paddock. Made a full recovery, can't think how long it took. Vet said the main problem is with younger animals as leg is growing and can rot in plaster

Yea I had one the leg practically fell off, vet said the results can be variable

morphy87

wrangler wrote: »

Yea I had one the leg practically fell off, vet said the results can be variable

Had he an open wound when he broke it? When did you discover it was starting to rot when ye removed the plaster?

wrangler

morphy87 wrote: »

Had he an open wound when he broke it? When did you discover it was starting to rot when ye removed the plaster?

Long time ago, a yearling, can't remember the detail

morphy87

wrangler wrote: »

Long time ago, a yearling, can't remember the detail

No bother

Albert Johnson

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

This may be useless to you, but anyways...

Have had 2 sheep with broken legs here over the years. Both time they mended themselves.

Not sure if the same applies to cattle though...

Big difference in the weight on a sheep's leg compared to a bullock, I've seen 3 legged sheep and it never held them back but cattle are different particularly as they get older and heavier.

OP I'm assuming when the vet set it in plaster that the break is low down on the leg? Provided infection doesn't set in then I'd expect a reasonable chance of success. I'd recommend closing him into a small area to restrict movement and aid recovery. A neighbor had a heifer break her hip in the spring time, the vet couldn't do anything only offer pain relief. The heifer was put into a small garden and the leg eventually healed although she had a limp, he fed her well over the summer and a butcher bought her in September. There's no hard and fast rule and you can only keep an eye on him and hope for the best, if he starts to fail or seems in a lot of pain then you'll have to make a decision as best you can.

wrangler

Albert Johnson wrote: »

Big difference in the weight on a sheep's leg compared to a bullock, I've seen 3 legged sheep and it never held them back but cattle are different particularly as they get older and heavier.

OP I'm assuming when the vet set it in plaster that the break is low down on the leg? Provided infection doesn't set in then I'd expect a reasonable chance of success. I'd recommend closing him into a small area to restrict movement and aid recovery. A neighbor had a heifer break her hip in the spring time, the vet couldn't do anything only offer pain relief. The heifer was put into a small garden and the leg eventually healed although she had a limp, he fed her well over the summer and a butcher bought her in September. There's no hard and fast rule and you can only keep an eye on him and hope for the best, if he starts to fail or seems in a lot of pain then you'll have to make a decision as best you can.

At least amggots wouldn't be a problem at the moment, I think I remember maggots in mine

morphy87

Albert Johnson wrote: »

Big difference in the weight on a sheep's leg compared to a bullock, I've seen 3 legged sheep and it never held them back but cattle are different particularly as they get older and heavier.

OP I'm assuming when the vet set it in plaster that the break is low down on the leg? Provided infection doesn't set in then I'd expect a reasonable chance of success. I'd recommend closing him into a small area to restrict movement and aid recovery. A neighbor had a heifer break her hip in the spring time, the vet couldn't do anything only offer pain relief. The heifer was put into a small garden and the leg eventually healed although she had a limp, he fed her well over the summer and a butcher bought her in September. There's no hard and fast rule and you can only keep an eye on him and hope for the best, if he starts to fail or seems in a lot of pain then you'll have to make a decision as best you can.

Yes down low,I have him In a small area by himself but he is well able to move and he is not in any pain the vet gave him an jection to take down the swelling so hopefully an infection won’t set in but by not puncturing the skin there is a good chance it won’t get infected I hope

Albert Johnson

morphy87 wrote: »

Yes down low,I have him In a small area by himself but he is well able to move and he is not in any pain the vet gave him an jection to take down the swelling so hopefully an infection won’t set in but by not puncturing the skin there is a good chance it won’t get infected I hope

That's all positive, yes the lack of an open wound should hopefully prevent infection. I remember the vet telling my neighbor that if the skin had been punctured he'd have recommended euthanasia straight away due to the massive risk of infection. Once the bullock seems contented and is able to get about with relative ease then it's worth continuing imo, where there's life there's hope.

morphy87

Albert Johnson wrote: »

That's all positive, yes the lack of an open wound should hopefully prevent infection. I remember the vet telling my neighbor that if the skin had been punctured he'd have recommended euthanasia straight away due to the massive risk of infection. Once the bullock seems contented and is able to get about with relative ease then it's worth continuing imo, where there's life there's hope.

Hopefully

Lime Tree Farm

we had a calf with a broken leg earlier this year, cast on for 1 month, probably one month as the calf was growing. No broken skin, indoors for a month. Leg is fine now. Yours putting his weight on it is a good sign.

Yours with a cast on for 7-8 weeks sounds a long time, with humans it 6 weeks in cast.

dohc turbo2

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

we had a calf with a broken leg earlier this year, cast on for 1 month, probably one month as the calf was growing. No broken skin, indoors for a month. Leg is fine now. Yours putting his weight on it is a good sign.

Yours with a cast on for 7-8 weeks sounds a long time, with humans it 6 weeks in cast.

Same as last year , calf was growing so fast we had to change the cast after a few weeks . On opening the first cast bet said to me we will know now his faith in a min , as in bad smell or healing , thankfully it was healing well ,

Genghis Cant

morphy87 wrote: »

18 months 460 kgs

We'd a powerful BBX heifer last winter break her leg. It was flopping about , put a cast on it for 6 or 8 weeks . She got it hard to motor for a few days but very soon got used to it. We propped her up with bales for a few days.
Once she got got going it was unreal the progress she made. The cast came off a week early as I remember cos it was causing a sore on her leg as she got more mobile.
When it came off she has a slight limp. Again she went out to grass the limp disappeared and she went ahead 100%.
So it can work out the the finest.
Best of luck with her.

morphy87

Going by here and by the vet I’d say he has a good chance,I will let ye know how it goes

morphy87

Just wondering could the animal injure or hurt his leg again while in cast or would the cast protect the leg where broken?

Lime Tree Farm

I worried about our calf when he was on his own in the shed with a cast, he would jump up any time anyone appeared, and his leg seemed to be sticking out more to the right as the days went by. I feared that it would be a permanent disfigurement. Not so, as soon as the cast came off, and he was back out in the field with the cow, it straightened back to normal. He was 3 months old when he broke his leg.

morphy87

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

I worried about our calf when he was on his own in the shed with a cast, he would jump up any time anyone appeared, and his leg seemed to be sticking out more to the right as the days went by. I feared that it would be a permanent disfigurement. Not so, as soon as the cast came off, and he was back out in the field with the cow, it straightened back to normal. He was 3 months old when he broke his leg.

Thanks for that

The man in red and black

OP,

No hard and fast rules with broken legs in cattle. Biggest thing which makes it impossible to know how good a chance is that cost prohibits taking xrays of the leg. So we diagnose broken legs based on feeling it and no idea if its a simple break straight across or if it's in several small pieces at angles inside the skin.

Simplest rules are:
1. Young animals are healing machines as their bones are growing. So 4 weeks often does it.
2. The heavier the animal the lower chance of healing due to the weight on the fracture.
3. A small pen is essential.
4. Keep the cast spotless. Don't have the animal standing in a foot of dung.
5. If its a calf and the leg is broken jacking at birth <30% chance of healing due to damage to the blood vessels supplying the bone as the ropes crush it.
6. No telling what will happen til the cast comes off. Animals often look fine walking on cast, you take the cast off and leg is rotten or bone has stuck out through the skin due to a sharp fragment. They don't necessarily look sick.
7. If a bone is out through the skin euthanasia best course of action as the number that will heal will be very low.
8. Broken legs hold animals back alot in general. I know a colleague who casted a 250-300kg heifer for her dad, think it took 8 weeks roughly to heal. Got going then but the animal more or less stopped growing while it was healing so when you factor in the lost growth and vet bills if it wasnt for her dad it wouldn't have been commercially viable. Each roll of casting material is about 8-10 euro so they add up when you have a 460kg bullock OP!
9. If its above the hock or carpus it's much more tricky and uncertain.
10. If they don't heal after 8 weeks I would be thinking about euthanasia.
11. If they are still hopping lame even though bone is healed(can happen if break was near a joint) I would think about euthanasia as the only two times I've seen this happen farmers regretted not shooting them as they were pure screws and couldn't legally be transported to factory.
12. Luck has alot to do with it in bigger animals!


Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

morphy87

The man in red and black wrote: »

OP,

No hard and fast rules with broken legs in cattle. Biggest thing which makes it impossible to know how good a chance is that cost prohibits taking xrays of the leg. So we diagnose broken legs based on feeling it and no idea if its a simple break straight across or if it's in several small pieces at angles inside the skin.

Simplest rules are:
1. Young animals are healing machines as their bones are growing. So 4 weeks often does it.
2. The heavier the animal the lower chance of healing due to the weight on the fracture.
3. A small pen is essential.
4. Keep the cast spotless. Don't have the animal standing in a foot of dung.
5. If its a calf and the leg is broken jacking at birth <30% chance of healing due to damage to the blood vessels supplying the bone as the ropes crush it.
6. No telling what will happen til the cast comes off. Animals often look fine walking on cast, you take the cast off and leg is rotten or bone has stuck out through the skin due to a sharp fragment. They don't necessarily look sick.
7. If a bone is out through the skin euthanasia best course of action as the number that will heal will be very low.
8. Broken legs hold animals back alot in general. I know a colleague who casted a 250-300kg heifer for her dad, think it took 8 weeks roughly to heal. Got going then but the animal more or less stopped growing while it was healing so when you factor in the lost growth and vet bills if it wasnt for her dad it wouldn't have been commercially viable. Each roll of casting material is about 8-10 euro so they add up when you have a 460kg bullock OP!
9. If its above the hock or carpus it's much more tricky and uncertain.
10. If they don't heal after 8 weeks I would be thinking about euthanasia.
11. If they are still hopping lame even though bone is healed(can happen if break was near a joint) I would think about euthanasia as the only two times I've seen this happen farmers regretted not shooting them as they were pure screws and couldn't legally be transported to factory.
12. Luck has alot to do with it in bigger animals!


Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks for that long detailed reply,you obviously know your stuff

I hope I’m not repeating myself here but when I called the vet I was fearing that the animal would have to be put down but he looked at it and he explained that it would cost money and take time to heal so I asked in his opinion should we try and treat the animal or was it a waste of time but he said we have to try it as he thought it wasn’t to bad as it wasn’t an open wound,so he knocked out the animal and after examination he said it was a bad break but if it was to happen it happened in a good place if there’s such thing,between the joint as I would call a persons knee and ankle,

So in your opinion what are my chances he is in a small corner well bedded and clean and easily able to move and get up, I presume once he doesn’t get an infection it should have a chance of recovery? Don’t worry I will let ye know how it goes

The man in red and black

morphy87 wrote: »

Thanks for that long detailed reply,you obviously know your stuff

I hope I’m not repeating myself here but when I called the vet I was fearing that the animal would have to be put down but he looked at it and he explained that it would cost money and take time to heal so I asked in his opinion should we try and treat the animal or was it a waste of time but he said we have to try it as he thought it wasn’t to bad as it wasn’t an open wound,so he knocked out the animal and after examination he said it was a bad break but if it was to happen it happened in a good place if there’s such thing,between the joint as I would call a persons knee and ankle,

So in your opinion what are my chances he is in a small corner well bedded and clean and easily able to move and get up, I presume once he doesn’t get an infection it should have a chance of recovery? Don’t worry I will let ye know how it goes

I agree it's in one of the most treatable locations between the knee and ankle as you say so that's a huge plus. Bone not out through the skin is a big help. Keep him very quiet and hopefully will come right. The animal has alot to do with it. Don't be shy about feeding him. Like people you need to be well nourished when sick/injured! (Said as half the country is perished with this cold/flu doing the rounds!)

morphy87

The man in red and black wrote: »

I agree it's in one of the most treatable locations between the knee and ankle as you say so that's a huge plus. Bone not out through the skin is a big help. Keep him very quiet and hopefully will come right. The animal has alot to do with it. Don't be shy about feeding him. Like people you need to be well nourished when sick/injured! (Said as half the country is perished with this cold/flu doing the rounds!)

Thanks for that input,when I take the cast off I will post up the outcome

feartuath

I had a small weanling heifer 2 years ago half twin from a wild limousine cow.
Ended up bucket feeding her then first winter broke leg in slats,kids all ready had her named so she was a runt of a thing.
Cast put on her with 2 metal rods extending about 10mm past her hoof.
She healed ok but good leg is slightly deformed from putting extra weight on it.
She is still a small heifer but the lads still call her by her name and has become a kind of a pet.
Maybe get her in calf or else the freezer if the lads nont notice

Jb1989

feartuath wrote: »

I had a small weanling heifer 2 years ago half twin from a wild limousine cow.
Ended up bucket feeding her then first winter broke leg in slats,kids all ready had her named so she was a runt of a thing.
Cast put on her with 2 metal rods extending about 10mm past her hoof.
She healed ok but good leg is slightly deformed from putting extra weight on it.
She is still a small heifer but the lads still call her by her name and has become a kind of a pet.
Maybe get her in calf or else the freezer if the lads nont notice

Wouldn't be ideal putting her in calf if the leg ever went again, maybe midterm and loose a calf. Bad history to be keeping.

morphy87

The man in red and black wrote: »

I agree it's in one of the most treatable locations between the knee and ankle as you say so that's a huge plus. Bone not out through the skin is a big help. Keep him very quiet and hopefully will come right. The animal has alot to do with it. Don't be shy about feeding him. Like people you need to be well nourished when sick/injured! (Said as half the country is perished with this cold/flu doing the rounds!)

The vet was out today and when he saw the animal he couldn’t believe how well he was thriving,so when he took off the cast he said things could not of gone better,he was hoping for things to go right but he was not exspecting things to go as well as this,it is 100 percent he said and he will make a full recovery, thanks for everybody’s input here on this subject

dohc turbo2

morphy87 wrote: »

The vet was out today and when he saw the animal he couldn’t believe how well he was thriving,so when he took off the cast he said things could not of gone better,he was hoping for things to go right but he was not exspecting things to go as well as this,it is 100 percent he said and he will make a full recovery, thanks for everybody’s input here on this subject

Delighted to hear , good news for the new year

Lime Tree Farm

Great news, well done. I'd keep him away from the others for a little while longer, in case of bullying.

morphy87

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

Great news, well done. I'd keep him away from the others for a little while longer, in case of bullying.

I have him I a shed with others but he is in a separate pen so he has company but he is doing so well I am going to leave him by himself