Hyperextension of fetlock joints in German Holstein and German Holstein-Limousin crossbred calves
Bähr, C.; Baum, B.; Hewicker-Trautwein, M.; Scholz, H.; Distl, O.
Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 112(1): 28-32
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 0341-6593 PMID: 15714874 Document Number: 590183
In 2 different dairy farms, 6 calves exhibiting bilateral flexion of the fetlock joints in front or rear legs were born in 2000-02. Four of the affected calves from the same farm were crossbreds between German Holstein cows with red and white coat colour and a bull of the breed Limousin. The other 2 affected calves born on another farm were purebred German Holsteins with a black and white coat colour. The tests for BVD virus antigen and antibodies were negative in all affected calves. Three of the calves showed a lower selenium and a higher glutamate dehydrogenase concentration in the analyses of blood metabolites. Two crossbred calves showed a degeneration of the liver with a progressive periportal fibrosis in the histological examination. In one calf, an oedema of astrocytes of the central nervous system was seen. The analysis of the pedigrees showed that for the 4 crossbred calves, the Limousin bull was the common ancestor and the mothers of the calves were relatives. For the affected purebred German Holstein calves, a sire was also identified as the common ancestor. The pedigrees supported inheritance through a monogenic autosomal recessive locus or a more recessive gene loci with variable expression. However, the analysis could not clarify whether different gene loci were responsible for the congenital anomalies observed in the calves from the 2 farms and thus, the observed anomalies might be different genetic entities. Obvious environmental reasons were not found.