At the end of a farm visit the other day, I was shown a bunch of calves that were the first-born of the new autumn-calving season.

The farmer was concerned that the daytime temperatures in the house might be too hot and was wondering whether he should put them out or buy a hutch or two.

This client is an excellent stockman who would have a fine reputation for calf rearing in particular.

He told me that there were no problems so far. Twenty calves born since the middle of August and no scour, pneumonia or navel ill; these being among the most common ailments of young calves.

The only complaint he had was that he had a calf that had a “hurt”, but nothing else.

My client was adamant that it was only a hurt, as the same calf had no temperature and had no swollen navel, so, as he imagined, there was no other explanation other than the calf having picked up an injury.

Even though he was confident in his diagnosis, he was happy for me to take a look at the calf for myself.

Sure enough, the calf had no temperature, nor navel swelling, nor any tenderness around the navel area. Neither was there any obvious swelling in any of the joints in the affected right front leg.

At this stage, the calf was displaying only a mild limp, but it was still only less than 24 hours since first observed by the farmer himself. On closer examination of each of the joints, I discovered that the calf yielded when I squeezed the front knee joint.

“You have something there,” my client observed, with an inquisitive look. When we released the calf from his hold, the limp was far more pronounced. “Just as well I got you to look at him,” said my client, with a wry smile. We put him on a nine-day course of antibiotics, after which he made a complete recovery.

Too often, joint ill is not recognised until the calf is well lame, with an obviously swollen joint and swollen navel too. Treating such cases is usually unrewarding, as the prognosis is nearly always hopeless.

Many cases of joint ill occur in calves with no history or symptoms of navel ill. It’s also worth noting that the vast majority of calves presenting with symptoms that we presume are hurts are actually early-stage joint infections and need to be treated promptly.

Delays at this stage will, in most cases, determine the outcome, regardless of whatever treatment regime they are put on subsequently.

It is not uncommon either to see cases of joint ill and/or navel ill in early autumn-born calves, where warm weather conditions may make infectious disease spread in newborn calves more likely.

Michael Sexton works in Riverview Veterinary Group, an 18 vet practice in South West Cork which is also a member of the xlvets group of veterinary practices.