dehorning the hard way

[lilcowgirl]

we had to have a 4 mos.calf cosmetically dehorned today, hence a traumatic experience. One side stopped bleeding fairly quickly, but the other after 6 hrs still leaking quite alot. Call to the vet said to put a little gauze and vet wrap on, what a chore that was, now any ideas on what to expect in the next few days? In the a.m. we get to try and wash off the dried blood from his face, if mom doesn't get some of it off. This is nothing I will do again if I can help it.

 

[milkmaid]

Leave him alone. 4 months are some pretty small horns and the bleeding will stop on its own eventually. I've seen yearlings and bigger dehorned and you haven't seen bleeding until you've seen that. :shock: Heat - hot weather - and stress will make it take longer to clot. Leave him alone.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I wouldn't even try to wash it for a day or two - what is the hurry? There is a couple of blood stop powders out there you can keep in the barn, I don't think they ever expire - good for when you trim a cat or dog's nail too close as well.

 

[msscamp]

Call to the vet said to put a little gauze and vet wrap on, what a chore that was, now any ideas on what to expect in the next few days?

Yes, everytime he bumps his head he will run around with his head held at an angle towards the side he bumped. This behaviour will stop in a week or so, however.

In the a.m. we get to try and wash off the dried blood from his face, if mom doesn't get some of it off.

I, personally, would leave this calf alone. There is no reason to try to wash the dried blood off - it isn't hurting anything and it will wear off on it's own - the calf will be skittish, and trying to corral him to wash the dried blood off will only add to his stress. Leave him alone and let him heal.

 

[lilcowgirl]

so we decided to leave him alone like suggested, thanks, but another issue is fly control....our weather for the next couple days is supposed to be cooler and windy, that helps but the weekend is supposed to be hot. Will the wound heal enough to keep the flies from bothering it too much by then do you think?

 

[Herefordcross]

Some fly spray wouldn't hurt

 

[somn]

In the event you need to dehorn again. I would suggest you buy a $5 needle nose pliers and pull the veins after removing the horn. Saves time and money. I can't imagine a vet not suggesting that you try that first. Maybe the vet was unfamiliar with the dehorning process.

 

[msscamp]

Will the wound heal enough to keep the flies from bothering it too much by then do you think?

Probably not. If he is in a corral, I would definitely fly spray the wound(s) - I'm assuming the vet wrap is still on the one side. If he is on pasture (flies tend to not be as bad in the pasture as they are in a corral - at least here), and the fly problem is not big, I would leave him alone but keep an eye on him to make sure he's doing ok and not being bothered by the flies.

 

[stocky]

Dehorning bleeds and if it is done poorly it bleeds alot more. The calf will be fine, but I would definitely keep an eye on the fly situation. I never dehorn until there has been a good hard frost. You will need to keep fly spray or powder on this calf to keep from getting screw worms. Good luck

 

[IluvABbeef]

Just to add my two bits of experience with dehorning to this, after cutting the horns off, we put on a rubber pickle jar band around the head to help stop the bleeding. Then dad paints some green liquid on the horns to keep from infection (I can't remember the name; I think it's some sort of iodine treatment, only green; also used it to treat ringworm).
Horns are usually cut in the winter, although there has been occaisonally a time or two where a steer had to be dehorned in the summer. And I think the same thing was administered to the dehorned steer.

That's just my 2 cents.

 

[bubchub]

so we decided to leave him alone like suggested, thanks, but another issue is fly control....our weather for the next couple days is supposed to be cooler and windy, that helps but the weekend is supposed to be hot. Will the wound heal enough to keep the flies from bothering it too much by then do you think?

That is one reason we dehorn after it cools off. IT gets nasty when you have maggots get in their head.

 

[Vicky the vet]

I'm confused. A cosmetic dehorn involves freezing each horn, carefully cutting an elliptical incision around the skin surrounding each horn, lifting up the skin flap, wiring off the horn, ligating the blood vessels, carefully suturing the skin so that all that remains is a clean line of sutures. Anything else is NOT a cosmetic dehorn.
What on earth was done? It sounds like a plain old dehorn to me...
But then, I'm just a vet.....

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I was pondering the same thing Vicky. We use a horn iron to stop bleeding for plain old dehorning. The old Cracker Wives' Tale is don't make ANYTHING bleed on a full moon, unless you want to bleed it out such as butchering. So far seems to be holding true in my experiences.

 

[lilcowgirl]

they were surgically removed, sawed off whatever, and stitched up, he's doing fine. Have been using fly spray but not too much to interfere with the healing process. The reason done now is he's a show animal and needs to be completely healed and hair back by Jan. yes that's a time away yet, but as they say no time like the present. Gave a little banamine for the discomfort and he's back at it now. Thanks for the advice it's always appreciated.

 

[mystery74]

We also show cattle/ my daughter does, we call a vet out they do a old fashioned dehorn we like to do it when there are no flies out, but sometimes the horns cone back and they have to be dehorned again which is really annoying, however i have had no problems with peroxide to get the wound to scab up and purple spray (fly spray) used for open wounds. your animal should heal up in enough time