De-horning and stress in a thin cow

[Little Cow]

I have a small herd of Dexter cattle and need a bit of advice on a new cow.

Red Dexters are pretty rare so I jumped at the chance to buy one for a very reasonable price, even though she is range wild and skinny.

She arrived Wednesday and seems to be settling in reasonably well. She is in a quarantine pasture on the other side of the house from all our other cows. She was terribly spooky at first. Finally, today, she let me stand within five feet of her while she was eating. She has her own round bale and is fed alfalfa pellets 3 times per day. She also has loose minerals. Poops look normal.

Now, here's my issue. Our fair requires no horns for any exhibit cattle and I'm on the wait-list so I need to get this new cow de-horned before fair in the spring. I also want to AI her but I'd like to wait until she's recovered fully from the de-horning. The problem is that she is skinny and I'm wondering if I need to fatten her up first or if she can take it.

The big reason to push de-horning her ASAP is because she's as wild as any Florida scrub cow and I need to start taming her down but I don't like the defensive posturing she does with those horns so I'd like to whack them off as soon as possible. I don't think this cow is ill-tempered or I wouldn't think about breeding her. I've already talked to the University of Florida's vet school about surgical de-horning (to look nice for fair). The price is actually quite reasonable. So, I'd like to have her horns removed this week. What do you think about her weight and it's effect on her recovery? Surgical de-horning sounds nicer, but there's still blood loss. I also want to go ahead and drench her and vaccinate her while she's under to help her gain weight.

Here are some pictures:

Sorry for the lack of a side view. I'll attempt again tonight. Darn cow kept spooking and facing me.

 

[Suzie Q]

If you have a race and a cattle crush (squeeze chute) you can start handling her now from the safety of the other side of the fence. Horns or no horns.

I have always been advised not to take off mature horns off a skinny cow.

 

[Little Cow]

Nope, no squeeze. Still working with a swing gate chute. It works fine for our other cows, but they are quite tame. BTW, four of our mature cows have horns but never show any defensive or aggressive behaviors. I want to see how she is without horns (some say it makes them more docile- I think just makes them less dangerous to work with) because I am wondering more and more if she is actually ill-tempered. I might be breeding her until I get a red heifer and then sending her to auction. I don't know her history, but I am hoping the temperament is man-made and a bottle raised heifer from her will be gentle despite what I'm seeing here. If it doesn't work, well, we still have a freezer to fill every year. Don't you hate it when a great deal turns out to be a possible sucker punch? I have to see if I can get some return before I give up on this cow. Right now, I really don't like her and I certainly don't want any calves that act like her.

I do appreciate your concern, though. It's exactly what I don't want to hear, LOL! I will be sure to ask the vet at the university about her weight.

 

[dun]

Why not ask the folks that are going to dehorn her?

 

[Little Cow]

Why not ask the folks that are going to dehorn her?

Absolutely! However, it's a pretty long haul to the vet school and I'd hate to load her up only to be turned away due to her weight. Can anyone estimate BSC on her so i can describe her condition adequately when I call to talk to the Cattle Unit?

I just spoke with her original breeder and this cow was gentle and halter-broke as a weanling. She was on a big ranch and the owners are too frail to work their own cows (not the folks I bought her from). They hired some hands to work their animals....apparently some rough hands. Come to think of it, she acts just like the cattle I worked with out west that had been hit with a hotshot too much. It makes sense. I can probably gentle her over time.

 

[Little Cow]

I just looked up BSC scores and I'm going to she's a 3. Do you folks concur?

 

[dun]

I'm sure they have email, you could send them the pictures and have them make an assesment from that