2 week old calf with slightly curved out back leg

I got a bottle calf, I got her a week ago from someone that said the mom had mastitis. They got tired of feeding her, and she looked kinda homely when she arrived. She promptly started scouring, but we got that cleared up and she is now 2 weeks old. She is getting around well, eating good, pooping good, ears up, nose wet, and gives a good stretch when she gets up. Her back leg curves out a bit, and she has a slight limp. You can see lack of muscle tone on that upper leg too. The vet seems to think she will grow out of it since she is walking around, and even trots a little, but still has an ungainly gait. Should I limit her movement, or make her walk to strengthen the leg?

I vote for neither and just continue to allow her to do what pleases her. She knows best how her leg is feeling from
day to day and will adjust accordingly. But getting her up to walk and observing her progress in strengthening her leg
won't hurt anything.


Off topic:
Reminds me back in my mid teens our group of friends would get together and play basketball unsupervised at a local
church with an indoor gym. One game a friend went down hard and got up favoring his leg. We of course encouraged
him to 'walk it off'. He wasn't making much progress. But we supported his efforts by chiding him with come on
'walk it off' ya big baby and even helped hold him up to keep going. It didn't work and grumbling we broke up our
game for the day.
Imagine our chagrin when he showed up in school the next day wearing a plaster cast and we realized we had been
trying to get him to walk off a broken leg. :lol: Funnier now than at the time.
sorry for digressing.

She does seem happy. Started her on sweet feed, still getting three bottles a day too, was dancing around one of my trees trying to beat it up, so normal stuff...

I think she will grow out of it. Could be a bruise or a pulled muscle or ligament...anything. But if she is up and getting around, I think it will work itsself out. I think you are doing good.

She is still doing well, but still has a stilted gait when she runs around. Yesterday, when she came up for her bottle, she was definitely stiff. By the time she got to me, she had walked it off. She is happy and eating well, I am still hoping she will grow out of it. Her hips are not uneven anymore and her leg is not angled out anymore, but she still stands on one back leg on her toes sometimes. Here is a link to a video of her, where she stands up at the end... if it works...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HocJiLtZdy149VD6A

Try an BoSe shot. It is Vit E and Selenium. Might have to get it from the vet . It won't hurt her. We are in a selenium deficient area and give it to many of the bottle calves I raise. Try to keep a higher level in the mineral due to the general lacking in our soil. It also could have been from an injury when born... but I think it is more in the ligaments or the muscles.

Over the years we have had a number of calves with issues but they all seem to grow out of it. This year we had one born with a bent tail head and would walk sideways. But after about 8 weeks you would never even know. Last year we had a calf born with her head under her front leg. If I wasn't there to see it wouldn't have known. With the pressure that must have put on her head her eyes were all cloudy and she was blind for the first few weeks. She was left in the paddock with the cow and never missed a beat. But she came good and last month won junior champion at the royal show against a dozen heifers and I don't breed show cattle! I wouldn't worry too much, she just needs to grow into her muscles.

I am wondering if she was pulled. I got her when she was a week old, so I don't know if she had a hard delivery. The owner said mom had mastitis and he was bottle feeding her. She is a good looking thing, growing well. She is about 7 weeks now.

She still has a stiff gait but I have lifted and manipulated her legs and they seem to bend in all the right places and she does not seem to indicate pain when I am doing that, but her leg is defiantly stiff especially when she stands up after laying for a long time, but then she walks it off.

I have felt her hips and the joint by her tail and I don't feel anything odd when she is walking. She runs and jumps and is eating grass and the rest of her bodily functions are fine. I am still hoping she outgrows it. Someone told me even if she is a little gimpy that she will adapt to it because she does not know anything different.