Dusty Britches
Well-known member
I have always used Angus bulls in the past but 2 years ago we moved to a Hereford bull. We've been buying commercial Brangus but surprise, surprise! not all of them are really full blood Brangus. The end result that this post is getting to - I occasionally have a few calves that have horns.
I generally don't hang around them close enough to notice any horns until they are about 4 months or so in age when the horn pokes through the hair. Since I'll be weaning them at 6-7 months I will dehorn them at that time.
A few questions - what should I look for in a dehorner? The Co-Op has those nice stainless steel Barnes dehorners and I bought one but didn't realize one side is pretty crinkled and not a smooth round like the other side. Should I return it?
What should I use to cauterize the bases? The first calf we did last year, we used cauterizing / would dressing powder which worked well. But the second calf I had to cauterize and being in a bind the only thing I could think of was super heating a large bolt head, which worked well. It was just a long process.
Does anyone have any photos or video? I saw some on YT but they were terrible videos. Some bubba looking dude didn't restrain the calf well and the video really didn't show what or discuss what he was looking at, where he put the dehorners, etc. Then he didn't show how he stopped the bleeding.
I generally don't hang around them close enough to notice any horns until they are about 4 months or so in age when the horn pokes through the hair. Since I'll be weaning them at 6-7 months I will dehorn them at that time.
A few questions - what should I look for in a dehorner? The Co-Op has those nice stainless steel Barnes dehorners and I bought one but didn't realize one side is pretty crinkled and not a smooth round like the other side. Should I return it?
What should I use to cauterize the bases? The first calf we did last year, we used cauterizing / would dressing powder which worked well. But the second calf I had to cauterize and being in a bind the only thing I could think of was super heating a large bolt head, which worked well. It was just a long process.
Does anyone have any photos or video? I saw some on YT but they were terrible videos. Some bubba looking dude didn't restrain the calf well and the video really didn't show what or discuss what he was looking at, where he put the dehorners, etc. Then he didn't show how he stopped the bleeding.