Umbilical hernias are the most common birth defect in calves and may be more common in the holstein friesian breed signs and symptoms calves with simple hernias may seem completely normal except for a reducible umbilical hernia where the hernia contents can be easily pushed back into the abdomen. Umbilical hernias are the most common birth defect in calves they occur when the umbilical ring fails to close after birth allowing abdominal contents to protrude through the opening umbilical hernias vary in severity from those that will spontaneously heal to those that will need surgical repair. In calves umbilical hernia is the most common form of hernia which can occur in any breed and is more frequent in females than males steenholdt 2004 sutradhar et al2009 and tyagi and jit singh 2010 10 11 13 the overall incidence of congenital hernia was 18 tangudarai and vijay kumar 2013 12 the prevalence of an open hernial . Modern experts continue to study the causes of umbilical hernia in calves american doctors have concluded that their occurrence is directly related to infections that can enter the body through a non healing umbilical cord to make the umbilical cord heal faster you should use a drying agent for example iodine