De-Horning ?

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Hoppy72450

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How hard is it to de-horn a calf with a shoot.. And what do you use.. I seen an article on some kinda Iron looking device are they exspensive ? Just getting a feel for what I'am gonna have to deal with. And is dehorning a must does it count of your sale price or what ?
 
First and foremost - it's best to breed the horns off. (use a Homozygous polled bull)
If you already have an animal born with horns, it's best to dehorn as young as possible. Two options if done young.
#1 There is a caustic paste that you apply to and around the shaved buttons.
#2 Dehorn with an electric burning tool.
But, both these options need to done maybe before 2 months?? (others may have a better time frame)
After that, you have to use a scoop or Barnes Dehorner to cut them off. Very bloody/nasty.
Dehorning is one of the worse cattle management chores - IMO.
Yes, you can leave them on - yes, you get docked when you try to sell them.
 
I buy 3 wt. calves weekly and dehorning is just part of the incomming processing.
We catch calves in squeeze chute, catch nose with nose tongs, turn head and tie
off. Most of the calves usually have from a button up to a 3-4" horn. I scoop the
horns below the hair line and use an electric iron to cauterize any bleeders. We
pack any open sinuses with cotton and cover with silicon sealer to keep dry. Our
operations usually sees about 10 to 30 head/week and I can't remember ever losing
a calf from dehorning.

I should add that we don't castrate, dehorn or brand until calves have been in about
30 days.

Lane
 
Hoppy72450":1ucffyyb said:
How hard is it to de-horn a calf with a shoot.. And what do you use.. I seen an article on some kinda Iron looking device are they exspensive ? Just getting a feel for what I'am gonna have to deal with. And is dehorning a must does it count of your sale price or what ?

I've been around cattle all of my life, and dehorning is an inhumane procedure in my honest opinion. Now, having said that, I also understand why it must be done if you're stupid enough to buy cattle with horns and you run an otherwise polled herd. I detest it, I will not do it, and if you don't want horns on your animals then run a polled breed. You can use a dehorning iron, dehorning paste, or a barnes dehorner - which one works best is going to depend on the age of your cattle. All of them hurt, all of them are stressful, and all of them will cause problems if not used properly. The dehorning paste is highly caustic and requires the calf being dehorned to be separated from its mother and the rest of the herd for a specific amount of time so the paste is not smeared on other animals. The iron and the barnes dehorner will cause them to run around in pain for a fair amount of time after dehorning anytime they bump their heads. If not used properly, both will also cause their horns to resume growing incorrectly resulting in even more trauma and stress to correct the problem. The barnes dehorner has also been known to cause some animals to bleed to death depending on the size of their horns. If you don't want horns, don't breed or buy horned animals. Just my honest opinion. I'm not even going to dignify the idiot who suggested wrapping baling wire around the horns with a reply.
 
Poster did not say baling wire mscamp, read the post a little closer. You can use a bander to take the horns off. Dehorning ain't the horror story some of this bunch is letting on it is.
 
What all cattle breeds do not have horns.. I really dont wanna have to dehorn if I can get a good breed that doesnt have them.. Plus more danger to myself with Horned cattle.
 
Angus is obviously the first choice of polled - all are homozygous polled (2 polled genes)
Most all the other breeds offer polled - some homozygous & some heterozygous (1 polled & 1 horned gene)
Anymore, most Simmentals are homozygous and probably a lot of the other breeds.
Of course, there are horned breeds like Horned Hereford, Highland, Longhorns, etc.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":22wzt4nc said:
Angus is obviously the first choice of polled - all are homozygous polled (2 polled genes)
Most all the other breeds offer polled - some homozygous & some heterozygous (1 polled & 1 horned gene)
Anymore, most Simmentals are homozygous and probably a lot of the other breeds.
Of course, there are horned breeds like Horned Hereford, Highland, Longhorns, etc.

I would suggest Red Poll......the name speaks for it self. The problem with Angus you never know what was in the woodpile in some of the Angus cattle. You could end up with horns from an Angus.
 
Red Bull Breeder":nkggc7eq said:
Poster did not say baling wire mscamp, read the post a little closer. You can use a bander to take the horns off. Dehorning ain't the horror story some of this bunch is letting on it is.
If I were a bull calf and given the choice, I'd gladly give up my horns rather than my nuts.
 
Now Jovid - that statement is a bit of a stretch. Yes, there can be unknown genetics in Angus as well as any and all other breeds - including Red Poll - but RARE. Genetic manipulation or mistakes?? - crap happens.
Yes, we hear people on this board say they got horned calves out of Angus :shock: "generally", not purebred Angus. Does it ever happen, yeah - maybe.
 
My husband uses a tube dehorner. They come in different sizes so you need to be sure to get one large enough to go over the horn bud. You just sort of scoop out the bud. He does it as soon as the horn buds are apparent. He doesn't use a chute. We lay that calf down and hold it. He does one side, then flips it to do the other. It isn't as bad as ms camp says. If you don't get all of the horn, the calf may end up with scurs which usually isn't a big deal.

AC064033l.jpg


Google tube dehorner to find where to buy one.

Also, the "wire" that a person mentioned is OB wire.

We have dehorned goats whose horns were several inches long with elastrator bands. You have to put the band on as close to the skull as possible. Two bands side by side worked the best. One helped hold the other in place. I've never tried on a calf.

Here's a link about dehorning cattle with bands:

http://www.nobull.net/bander/SBdehorning.htm
 
Chippie is right, for small calves you do not need a chute. Lay them down and one man hold them and another dehorn.
I have dehorned a lot and I prefer scoops (Has two handles , put it over the horn and open the handles and it cuts).
If it bleeds you can use forceps to pull out the bleeding arteries. They look like white worms.
Usually stop bleeding anyway. Can use cotton, even a paper towel , to press on to stop bleeding.
Have NEVER seen one running around in pain afterwards.
Do it, get it done, and it's over. No big deal. But you probably need to watch somebody do it first to get the confidence.
Electric is OK.

That caustic paste and bands can make them sensitive and cause pain if they hit their head on something. I don't like that stuff and it takes too long for the horn to come off.

Barnes dehorners and saws for bigger animals. If you get them small you will never need these.
 
Red Bull Breeder":31tu546v said:
Poster did not say baling wire mscamp, read the post a little closer. You can use a bander to take the horns off. Dehorning ain't the horror story some of this bunch is letting on it is.

You're right, my bad. My apologies for my mistake.
 
Horns are my number one pet peeve with cattle.
I worked in a 80 000 head finishing feedlot and always took the horns off of anything we run thru the chute to treat. These were yearling cattle and their horns were often quite large. We had a Silencer chute which held their heads quite well but you could also use a halter and tie them to one side. I would first tie sisal twine around the base of the horns, nice and tight. Next I would use a reciprocating saw and zip the horns off close to the head (watch the ears!). We had an old electric branding iron and I would use this to cauterize the cut area. Last step was to cut off the twine. No blood, no mess, no fuss.
We dehorn our calves at branding, using a heated pipe-like thingee. Burn the outside of the horn (turning the dehorner), knock off the horn bud and burn the exposed area.
With older calves in a chute, you could freeze them with Lidocaine (your vet can show you the block). This makes it a lot nicer for the calf. We only use Gigli (OB) wire on cows as it works best on curved horns.
I agree with the numerous other posts; breeding them off is the BEST way to dehorn beef cattle. :nod:
Hope this helps!
 
I burn them off with a little electric dehorner when they are about 2 weeks old. Just old enough to feel the little horns. Do it outside or in a well ventilated area, because it does stink (like branding). Two people can easily hold down a 2 week old calf. If you wait until they are a few months old, you need a chute and headgate or some really good strong friends. Make sure you burn it good and long, rotating the burner. The skin will turn a light tan color as you burn through the hair and into the skin. The basic idea is that you are killing the cells that grow the horns, which are at the base of the horn. The horn will fall off a few days after you burn it. It will look terrible for a few weeks after you burn it. You can do the same thing with a pipe. I would say 1/2" schedule 40 iron pipe would work if you got it good and hot. Might need 3/4" if you are doing bigger horns. The pipe needs to be big enough to go over the horn almost all the way to the base. I don't like dehorning calves, but I don't like horns either. Like everyone else has stated, breeding it out of them is the best. I am one of the posters that did have an "angus" cow have a horned calf. She is already bred to the same bull again, so we will see what happens the second time around. I have a young polled bull I will be using from now on.
 
bigbluegrass":1d4pt0ws said:
I have a young polled bull I will be using from now on.
Polled by itself doesn;t really do much. Homozygous polled is what's needed
 
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