Sheridan, MI - 1/2 hr. from the mitten's middle | At the age that the steer appears to be, I'd sooner think umbilical hernia than infection. We had a steer about that age with an umbilical hernia, and the operation pretty much took all the profit out of raising him to finish slaughter weight. The risk in leaving it untreated is having a hernia strangulate. The resulting peritonitis and eventual gangrene would obviously leave the meat unusable. You may want to weigh your options of putting him in your own freezer now versus a wait-and-see approach. He may get to a decent finish weight with no problems. Only you can assess whether you want to risk it or not. A vet can easily tell you for sure whether it is a hernia or infection. We've also had umbilical infections, only in much younger calves. Even with surgery, the post-op care is pretty intensive (flushing out the wound daily, antibiotics, etc.). I hate to sound like the voice of doom and gloom here, but I have to be honest about the reality of the situation. The best to you... |
Holstein steer....what am I looking at?
