Several years back one of my cows came up severely "lame". Was extremely reluctant to walk and appeared to
be in a lot of pain. Was able to get to her with the trailer and haul her and her calf to my place. She would lay
down, but when she tried to get up, she could get her back legs up fine, but when she tried to lift her front end
up her head would slam down hard enough onto the ground you could feel it hit. She would then adjust the
position of her head on the ground and use it to push herself up onto her front feet. Urinating was more of a dribble.
Vet never looked at her, but I did ask the vet about her. Assumed it was a pinched nerve. Most likely cavorting around
with other cows when she cycled, no bull was in with them. I kept her separate from the other livestock for a good month
or so. When it came time to decide about breeding her, she was by all outward appearances doing really good. So I
allowed the bull a short visit with her then separated them. Still kept her separate from the other livestock for another month.
She totally recovered, never saw any indications later that she had ever been injured. She passed her milking production on
to two heifers I kept from her.
I would give your heifer a good rest away from the other livestock and see how she does. You can always eat her later.
No need to make an immediate decision.