Horn Removal

[Ryder]

List of things you need:

Wire saw cables for horns
Blood stop powder
Pine tar
Small flat stick to apply tar
New pair of needle-nose pliers with good teeth
Rope halter

Loop the cables across the backside of the horn, as close to the skull as you can.

Start sawing back and forth, the heat from the saw will help cauterize the wound. The animal will likely beller..don't be surprised.

Take the horn clean off, after 3/4 of the way through, your going to need another hand (person) to hold the horn so you can finish sawing (it will be flopping around loosely)

Soon as it comes off, the arteries will be spraying like nuts (good to wear old clothes for this procedure). Locate them both (arteries) in each horn and pull them out with the pliers. If you don't get them all, don't worry. Just give a good dose of blood stop power into the holes and around the base and take a good gob of pine tar and smother on top of both bases, bringing the surrounding hair (with tar) towards the horn to help cover it up and protect from dirt and flies.

Let the animal go and watch for the next few hours to make sure that bleeding stops. If not, call a vet. Although we have never had a problem.

If you have access to drugs like lidocaine to ease the pain, that should make the going easier. We have never done that, so can't really comment. You may need to use the rope halter to subdue the animal if they start thrashing their head around in the chute when your sawing. :cowboy:

Just make sure you pack the holes good with pine tar. Nothing nastier than fly eggs (in summer) or a head cold (in winter).

Similar to Bez, once you have the equipment, its fast and cheap to do horns. I figure about a buck a head and takes about 6 mins top to do wire sawing. We typically used Barnes dehorners at weaning as it saves about 3 min per head.

Very good post. Well written.
I would only add that a pair of artery forceps would be better for pulling arteries.
The arteries will look like small white worms. Just get a good hold on them and pull right out.
Might need to sponge the blood out of the way to see them. Paper towel works fine. But don't mess around as more bleeding will obscure you vision again if you are too slow.
Remember, there is a first time for everybody.

 

[grand chaser09]

normally we use a set of scoops. then my dad made this nifty little thing thats a ring you heat up witht the brands and place around the base of the horn to burn the ends stop bleeding an the horn 9 times outta 10 wont grow back.

 

[cgraves]

let the vet do it. best $20 you can spend on a cow. my vet used a rope saw and an iron to seal the wound. he controlled the bleeding with cotton balls and after they got soak he caterized them. Cow came off the trailer eating hay and didn't miss a beat.

 

[Keren]

loch valley , can you tell us more about this banding procedure ? placement , any swelling , tetanus , etc.

Years ago we tried the bands on horns of goats. Made them illtempered and very seneitive to handle. If they bumped the horn it seemed to cause a lot of pain.

Yep, seems to be awfully bloody painful for them the whole time until the horn is off, and then some. Lot of people will put bands on the horns of mature goats that are dominant and bossy in the herd, since when they butt another goat while their horns are banded, it hurts like the hot place and so they learn not to do it.

Also extremely messy, and a lot of times the band breaks, or they rub it off, or you cant get it low enough.

I'm not a fan really. Disbud when young, or use embryotomy wire if adult (if you must), or otherwise just leave them be.

Bez and Aaron - both excellent posts

I seriously hate dehorning - particularly scooping. I can sort of deal with the embryotome wire. I dont mind disbudding or using the paste at all.

 

[Jovid]

Glad I don't have to worry about horns.

 

[tytower]

A few squeamish people here

I use a normal wood saw 14inch . Start about 1/8th inch into skin and saw away . In a head bail of course and you try to be quick and gentle . Have never pulled the arteries nor cauterised and just let them go . Blood stops in 10 to 15 minutes and not much lost but they probably are set back a couple of weeks by it. Australian Draughtmasters.

I havnt lost any yet and probably done 200 by now . some 2 inches thick at the base -thats 4 inches circumference. Ill have to try pulling the arteries though ,I was not aware of this technique. Havnt got any scoops ,they want $300 for them and dehorners large $500. Nah, saw is good enough, but I will look at and try the wire saw idea too.

 

[Nesikep]

here's a way we've used a few times as long as the horns are between 2-4", just roll 2 castrator bands on each one, they'll fall off after a while, just try not to give them too much to rub on as they will try and rub them off.. if the horns are bigger, they can be anethesised and cut, which is a bloody mess, no pun intended... we have a yearling heifer with about 1 1/2" horns right now, and once they grow out a bit more we'll give her the abovementioned treatement

 

[Bez+]

A few squeamish people here

I use a normal wood saw 14inch . Start about 1/8th inch into skin and saw away . In a head bail of course and you try to be quick and gentle . Have never pulled the arteries nor cauterised and just let them go . Blood stops in 10 to 15 minutes and not much lost but they probably are set back a couple of weeks by it. Australian Draughtmasters.

I havnt lost any yet and probably done 200 by now . some 2 inches thick at the base -thats 4 inches circumference. Ill have to try pulling the arteries though ,I was not aware of this technique. Havnt got any scoops ,they want $300 for them and dehorners large $500. Nah, saw is good enough, but I will look at and try the wire saw idea too.

Wow - it costs me about 20 Canadian bucks for enough wire to do more than a 50 head - 75 head. Not good to scoop a big horn - makes for a real bad job and very unclean edges.

Set back 200 head for 2 weeks each? 400 weeks of gain at 2 pound a day. 2800 days set back comes to 5600 dollars at a buck a pound - more if you got better pricing. If I spend well less than 10% of that I can recoup that loss in a couple of days maximum.

Do not know about squeamish but I do know about dollars and how to catch some of them before they hit the ground and turn it red.

You might not find the veins with the way you cut - never seen a rough cut make it easier to find them but it does make the bleeders scab up faster.

Yeah, I have seen a messy job put a calf down.

Bez+

 

[tytower]

Set back 200 head for 2 weeks each? 400 weeks of gain at 2 pound a day. 2800 days set back comes to 5600 dollars at a buck a pound - more if you got better pricing. If I spend well less than 10% of that I can recoup that loss in a couple of days maximum.

Peoples fascination with money is amusing. It always depends on how you want to look at it or how you want to fudge the figures . Weight gain is stalled maybe. All a matter of guesswork. So you sell them two weeks later than might have been . Not such a big deal. Loss ? I dont think so , gain because they are more appealing to buyers and have cost little to get that way

 

[novatech]

A few squeamish people here

I use a normal wood saw 14inch . Start about 1/8th inch into skin and saw away . In a head bail of course and you try to be quick and gentle . Have never pulled the arteries nor cauterised and just let them go . Blood stops in 10 to 15 minutes and not much lost but they probably are set back a couple of weeks by it. Australian Draughtmasters.

I havnt lost any yet and probably done 200 by now . some 2 inches thick at the base -thats 4 inches circumference. Ill have to try pulling the arteries though ,I was not aware of this technique. Havnt got any scoops ,they want $300 for them and dehorners large $500. Nah, saw is good enough, but I will look at and try the wire saw idea too.

Wow - it costs me about 20 Canadian bucks for enough wire to do more than a 50 head - 75 head. Not good to scoop a big horn - makes for a real bad job and very unclean edges.

Set back 200 head for 2 weeks each? 400 weeks of gain at 2 pound a day. 2800 days set back comes to 5600 dollars at a buck a pound - more if you got better pricing. If I spend well less than 10% of that I can recoup that loss in a couple of days maximum.

Do not know about squeamish but I do know about dollars and how to catch some of them before they hit the ground and turn it red.

You might not find the veins with the way you cut - never seen a rough cut make it easier to find them but it does make the bleeders scab up faster.

Yeah, I have seen a messy job put a calf down.

Bez+

Never noticed a set back when doing it on a young calf. I have to agree on doing it to older calves. Takes a couple of weeks to get them gaining again. Haven't been docked enough at the sale barn to make it worth while to dehorn at weaning.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The rubber band is placed at the base of the horn if you take notice there is a "soft" spot right behind the base of the horn shell & their head, this is where the band needs to go making sure to get some hair in the band (this is where I think they can rub the band off).

Do you deal with having trouble finding the "soft spot" on some tapered horns, and then having the band roll down towards the horn tip?