Dehorning Paste!!

[DitchBank]

I bought a jar of Dr Naylor's dehorning paste and was hoping to use it on a heifer I have growing some small horns but after reading the labels I am not sure I want to take a chance. Does it work well? Is there a chance it will hurt or make the cow sick? Any tips and tricks on how to do it the safest and best way possible? Will it work on about a 4 month old calf that just has very small horns? And what other risks are there by doing it? Anything else I should know about it?

Wow what a post full of questions huh. Just my first time trying to use it and wanting any information on past experiences or knowledge on the product. Thanks in advance to all those who reply.

 

[dun]

Don;t even bother trying to use it. Have someone that has the equipment/knowlwdge either burn them with a hot iron or use a scoop to dehorn her.

 

[CKC1586]

Gotta use it when the horn is only a tiny bud, best to do before two weeks old.

 

[randiliana]

Dr Naylors is the best paste out there as far as I am concerned. BUT, you have to use it while the horns are still bud's, or while they are very small. Once they have erupted you can still use it, but you must scrape/cut the tip of the horn off. Dehorning with paste is best done on calves under about 2 months old. Older calves with big horns need them burned, scooped or cut off.

We rarely have issues when using paste, but occaisionally you come across a calf that will bleed very badly. Blood stop powder is the only thing I have found to help control the bleeding. We have only had 2 over the last 10 years or so to do this, the other calves (hundreds of them) did not bleed at all. It is not a big issue. Probably a bigger issue is being careful not to get any on yourself while pasting a calf.

 

[Cowdirt]

Burn, scoop, cut or paste? None of the above for me. It's da bull man! ;-)

 

[DitchBank]

This is a Jersey heifer I bought not to long ago and she is a very tame nice cow and that is the way I would like to keep her because I would like to be able to handle with her a little when putting a few calves on her so her staying tame and trustworthy of people is a little important to make it easier on me to get her to accept a few calves at a time. I don't want to make her scared of people by doing the dehorning scoop or hot iron if it will make her weary of me. I guess its to late for the paste and not sure if I'll use it any way ever but as long as I'm keeping her I would like her horns off but as long as they stay small I guess they aren't doing to much harm. How big in your opinion do you think the horns will get there probably 1/2 an inch long now at around 4 months will they grow much more?

 

[dun]

This is a Jersey heifer I bought not to long ago and she is a very tame nice cow and that is the way I would like to keep her because I would like to be able to handle with her a little when putting a few calves on her so her staying tame and trustworthy of people is a little important to make it easier on me to get her to accept a few calves at a time. I don't want to make her scared of people by doing the dehorning scoop or hot iron if it will make her weary of me. I guess its to late for the paste and not sure if I'll use it any way ever but as long as I'm keeping her I would like her horns off but as long as they stay small I guess they aren't doing to much harm. How big in your opinion do you think the horns will get there probably 1/2 an inch long now at around 4 months will they grow much more?

The scoops aren;t as bad for the animal as the horns are or the scoop process is for the person. There is pain, but the restraint bothers them more then the dehorning process. After it's done, give her a bucket of sweet feed and she'll forget all about it. Assigning human feelings/emotions to cattle is BS.

 

[DitchBank]

I don't have any problem doing it with a cow I will have no contact with but I've decided that raising a few extra calves just doesn't work well when its on milk replacer so I decided if I am going to raise a few extra calves I am going to do it off a cow. Just want her to stay as handleable as she is now.

 

[randiliana]

It doesn't matter how you do it, dehorning is going to hurt. As long as you still treat her with respect after you do it she won't turn wild on you. Cattle that are turned wild/unmanagable are usually turned that way by the day to day management, not by these sorts of things. Do it (dehorning or whatever) quickly, then give her a treat, she will remember the treat more than the pain. It is the way they are, they don't dwell on what happened like humans do.

If you are going to use her as a nurse cow, or as a milk cow, you don't need or really want a cow with horns, they are just another thing to watch out for. In fact the only place that you might actually want a cow with horns is on the open range where there are a lot of predators, and even then, I think it is debatable whether they are really a necessity.

 

[2/B or not 2/B]

ditchbank, if you are that worried about giving her a negative association, have your vet or another person dehorn her and like people said, give her some grain or treats afterward. She'll get over it. I've dehorned using Dr. Naylor's paste and let me assure you, it's still very painful for the calf. Since it's a slow burning process, it might even be worse than something else done quickly. It works well if the horn is a tiny bud, still soft and barely emerging. If I ever use it again, I will follow others advice and wrap the area with duct tape afterward to keep the calf from rubbing the paste into its eyes or onto other animals.

 

[djinwa]

Maybe you could put on a fake mustache or something so she won't recognize you later.

I've found it fascinating to have calves licking my boots an hour after I cut their nuts off. If that happened to me I'd probably remember the guy.