Heifer with a Fractured Leg

D. E. Larsen, DVM

I stood up and stretched my back after working a hoof.

“That was a chore,” I said. “At least it was just a sore foot.”

“Yes, I was worried that it was another broken leg,” Larry said.

“Ha, you have had your share of those things,” I said. “But things have worked out pretty well on both of those fractures.”

“Yes, the calf that you put a pin in his leg turned out great,” Larry said. “I even made some money on that deal.”

“That’s how things are supposed to work,” I said. 

“And the heifer that you put a splinted her fracture,” Larry said. “I was amazed that she did so well. She is still in my herd, and I still have that splint.”

“You still have that splint?” I said.

“Yes, just a moment. I will grab it,” Larry said as he headed into the barn.

Larry came out of the barn carrying a soiled but serviceable Thomas splint that we had the welding shop in town make over ten years earlier. It was made with tubular steel with a steel plate for the hoof.

I had sketched the design, and the shop had added a third support bar that ran from the center of the circular tubing, which fit around the leg at the armpit and supported the weight of the heifer. This third tube added significant support to the splint and works much better than the front and rear bars that were standard for dogs and cats.

“This looks really good, Larry,” I said. “You could use it again if the need arose.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” Larry said. “I just hung it up in the barn. That heifer, an old cow now, is still in the herd. I’m glad you convinced me to save her. When I called you, I was just wanting to get your okay to make hamburger out of her.”

“This splint works well on fractures low on the leg,” I said. “below the elbow on the front leg and below the stifle on the rear leg. You also had a couple of pluses that helped with the decision. The heifer was not too large. She must have been under seven hundred pounds. And you had the facilities to keep her penned up in a small area in the barn.”

“I remember that it was a chore for a month or two,” Larry said. “And it surprised me a little at how well she did with this thing after a couple of days. She just acted like it was a part of her.

“If you remember, the hoof plate helped a lot when we put it on her,” I said. “That welding shop knew their stuff to be able to modify my sketch with the hoof plate and the third bar. With the hoof plate, we were able to wire the hoof to the plate sort of like putting on a shoe, only with wire instead of nails.”

“Yes, I remember you drilling holes in the plate and in the edges of her hoof,” Larry said. “It took me a few days to really believe that it was going to work. Not that I didn’t have confidence in you, Doc.”

“So many people just get the idea that there is no option for repair when a cow or calf breaks a leg, and they shoot them before they get a vet to look at them,” I said. “Sometimes there are no functional options for repair. But you have a couple of examples, Larry. This heifer and that calf, on which I pinned the leg several years after her. Both of those turned out well and they were cost-effective in the long run. Especially for the heifer. I would guess she has raised close to ten calves by now and probably has a few more in her.”

“She does a bang-up job with her calves, too,” Larry said. “Her calves always finish near the best of the herd. And I have several of her heifer calves in the herd now. You know, I think that mothering stuff is inherited as much as it is learned.”

“I think most research supports that opinion in the cow,” I said. “And observation also supports it in people, I think. There are great mothers out there, and unfortunately, there are always a few who just missed the boat when they were handing out mothering skills.”

“Anyway, Doc, this splint is just hanging here in the barn,” Larry said. “If anyone needs to use it, they are welcome to borrow it. If nothing more than to use it as a model to have a new one built.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Larry,” I said. “Hopefully, there will be someone around who still knows how to use it. That split will outlast both of us.”

“You’re right there,” Larry said. “Thanks for coming, Doc. And thanks for the memories.”

Photo Credit: Mohan Nannapaneni on Pexels.