livestock101":18l1isza said:
How hard is it to dehorn a 2 year old hereford cow? I have no intention of doing it myself, I'd haul her to the vet's office. I know it's best to do it when their young but we didn't own her then. It can still be done, right? I was wanting to haul her down before the flies come out. Assuming it can be done, how long does it take for the holes to close?
Yes it can be done. We do it often.
To do this at home requires a cattle squeeze or a couple of gates set up to restrain the animal and then tie its head off to one side with a rope / rope and halter.
If you are going to haul it to the veterinarian as a newbie, you will have no problems.
S/he will likely trim away the excess hair at the horn base - use a wire saw to remove the horns and some lidocaine.
Lidocaine simply freezes the horn base - reducing the shock of losing the horns. When they are large, it is - as was put to me once - similar to cutting off your hand - quite painful! Hence the freezing. It also allows for a faster recovery time.
The wire saw makes for a very nice and clean removal - it is fast and it does a very nice job.
The holes will close within a month - give or take a bit.
If you were close I would come and do it for you - easy and a bit messy - but the cow will do ok.
We do it exactly the same as the veterinarian.
Overall it is a very simple procedure.
As for flies - there is a risk - so we tend to do it outside fly season - but I am sure the veterinarian will burn the cut area and that reduces the blood issues after removing the horns.
Burning also eliminates the chance for regrowth of a deformed horn.
Follow the veterinarian's directions and you will likely be ok.
If you decide to not to do this and are worried about the horns - buy some weights and put them on the horn tips. The weights will train the horns downward and the cow will gain the "traditional" Herf look. We do this as well.
There is a lot of info on this topic if you choose to run a search on this board. There are a few of us here who train horns down on a regular basis.
Have fun,
Bez>