Congenital Anomaly Cases in Calves

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of congenital anomalies in calves brought to the Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine animal hospital surgery clinic between 2010 and 2020. The study material consisted of 140 calves with anomalies of different races and genders. Gender was examined for its effect on the formation of anomaly types and found to be a statistically insignificant factor (P > 0.05). Simmental calves had a statistically significant higher number of digestive system anomaly diagnoses than Holstein calves (P <0.01). Simmental calves were found to have a 2.85 times higher risk of digestive system anomalies than Holstein calves. The predisposition of atresia ani according to race or gender was not statistically significant in digestive system anomalies, but males tended to be more disadvantaged in general. Similarly, it was determined that the gender and race predisposition for atresia coli anomaly was statistically significant (P <0.05), and males were significantly more prone to this anomaly than females by 3.33 times (P <0.05). When musculoskeletal anomalies were compared based on race, the distribution of susceptibility was found to be significant (P <0.01). Simmental and Holstein breeds were shown to have a 5.84 times higher risk than other breeds in this anomaly category, with Simmental breeds having a 5.32 times higher risk than Holsteins in the Samsun region of Turkey. As a result, it was concluded that breed selection is critical in cow breeding to limit the likelihood of congenital abnormalities.