Down headed calf

[zak]

What does it mean for a calf structurally when they are down headed? And what is the best way to tell on a calf that is 4 months old if he will be to straight in his front shoulders?


Zak

 

[Rhj]

Down headed usually refers to how his neck comes out of his body.  Sometimes how you work the halter can take care of that.  Straight fronted calves are sometimes hard to notice at an early age.  I like to actually put my hands on a young calf and feel the angle of a shoulder, but most importantly try to study the genetics, it can tell you alot.

 

[zak]

Do down headed calves tend to be straight in there front shoulder and what genetics to straight shoulders run in?


Zak

 

[bcosu]

some times the structure of the shoulder influences the way the neck ties into the shoulder. a calf forward in his shoulder and a little straighter might have a lower neck attachment just because his shoulder being forward causes that low attachment.

i don't know if down headed calves tend to be straight shouldered but a lot of the straighter shouldered ones i have seen are normally down headed.

this is kinda like the high top/straight rear leg correlation.