none of my cows have horns but i have a new bull calf (1 day old ) that has a couple little dots on his head like he's gonna have horns...i've never had to deal with horns before so i'm new to this...they more than likely will come out as horns right?
bull calf horns
- Thread starter tlark19
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Texas PaPaw
Well-known member
Possible they are just scurs and will never develop into horns. I would watch him for a few months to see if they grow. If they get 2-3 inches long, just get him in a chute and use tree pruning loppers to lop them off as close to the head as possible. At that age it will be much less stressful than at weaning. Problem solved.
alacattleman
Well-known member
didnt think scurs would show up that early...sounds more like horns
snickers
Well-known member
what causes scurs? I've got a big ol' yellow, big eared cow that didn't have her scurs until she was a yr. maybe and they are still growing but she has a polled looking head. last yr. she raised twins and this yr. she had a dandy bull calf. just wandering where the heck the scurs come from.
randiliana
Well-known member
dun":23wnhb2f said:
Scurs are sex linked. A female calf must be homozygous (have 2 copies) to have scurs, a male calf needs only 1 copy of the gene.
bigag03
Well-known member
randiliana":b5c5sj0i said:
While I tend to agree with this statement, this idea is still theory. The inheritance of scurs is still largely a mystery. There has been ongoing research into this for several years and there is still not an inheritance model that fits every occurence.
DavisBeefmasters
Well-known member
tlark19":508mmo6a said:
You can use dehorning paste (not a great success rate because they will rub it off, momma licks it off, and the stuff is just caustic).
You can use those little dehorning burning devices made for horn buds (I have 0 experience with those so couldn't tell you if they work)
...or you can wait 'til the little tyke is 4 months old coming in for 1st shots and scoop 'em with a dehorner and then sear them with an iron to ensure all the horn cells are dead.
redcowsrule33
Well-known member
They're most likely horns if they show up at a day old. Burn them now, a lot less stress on the you and the calf. If they were just going to be big scurs, who cares, the problem is solved either way. Only reason I'd even consider leaving them is if you have to know the difference.
bigag03":23ea03ck said:
I agree that the theory is far from proven, personally I believe there are other factors playing a role, like homozygousity for polled, etc. I am yet to see a homozygous poll cow with scurs.
And to think I own quite a few of them that doesn't fit that model.
JHH
Well-known member
tlark19":1ol1bna0 said:
Probably horns, paste them or burn them while the calf is young.
[/quote]Aero":1ol1bna0 said:
What about a horned cow, a horned dad and a calf with scurs? I have one. I thought she should be horned since both parents are. Doesnt matter just asking.
What got me wondering about the sex link and all that was because many years ago we raised Angus Holstein and Polled Hereford Holsten cross heifers. The Angus was from an old line bred herd and Holsteins were pretty closely bred also. The Polled Hereford bulls were whatever decent bull that could be gotten at the time. Pete had never seen a scur on any of his cows but it may have been that they were burned off when they were dehorned as babys. Nearly every one of the Angus sired heifer calves had scurs, none of the Hereford sired heifers calves did. Maybe there is besides a sex link a breed gene combination. Over the years all of the Angus bulls came from the same herd.
