It’s that time of year again; calving is beginning or has begun on many farms around Ireland. Two years ago we introduced defect recording online to all farmers and while uptake was fairly low, it began a framework that has grown into a project to identify causative mutations for some of the defects seen around Ireland. Last year we had 12 reported cases of calves born without tails which was a surprise. Most of these calves were just fine other than missing their tails, but it was an interesting anomaly which begs the question, what will 2016 bring?
While we are still interested in any calves or animals with any type of deformities and hope farmers will continue to report to us, ICBF has decided to target some very specific genetic defects this year in hopes of finding the causative mutation for these defects. If you are a farmer or a vet and have a calf with any of the following defects we would appreciate you letting us know either through the online survey found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/?sm=x6Vqcq%2bsueU0qiHJ721FBg%3d%3d
or on the Health and Disease page which can be found under the Services tab on www. ICBF.com.
2016 Targeted Defects(Click on the name for a brief description of the disease, WARNING! most of these include graphic images of the defect):
Atresia (ani, coli, and jujeni) – also known as “Blockage” and “No back passage”
As always thank you for your help and cooperation in continuing to make Ireland a leader in cattle genetics!