dcara
Well-known member
Has anyone seen a study on feeder performance for polled vs. non-polled cattle? I recently had a baldy feeder that had horn buds and did exceptional on feedout.
what?":fov8vffk said:horns benefit the steer that has them on their head greatly they can beat any other unhorned steer away from the feedbunk
what?":2p9fmg3m said:jovid is this your first attempt at raising cattle?Jovid":2p9fmg3m said:what?":2p9fmg3m said:horns benefit the steer that has them on their head greatly they can beat any other unhorned steer away from the feedbunk
Now I know why cattle have horns. So they can beat each other up getting to the feed. :roll:
dcara":cm2kbkwi said:Has anyone seen a study on feeder performance for polled vs. non-polled cattle? I recently had a baldy feeder that had horn buds and did exceptional on feedout.
what?":1ugjl818 said:texasbred i guess in the pretty pictures of bovines that jovid looks at they must have never showed them using their horns to show dominance and competitive behavior. go figure a real cattle man would have known better, i do love it when these part time cowboys show there novice to everyone all by themselves without any help from others. this jovid guy is so green the grass is jealous
Red Bull Breeder":3cb7iowe said:I think most of the folks that have posted on this thread should back and really read the post that started the thread. Depending on the breed of cattle horned calves will out preform polled calves even if the horned calves have been dehorned.
msscamp":308uis7v said:dcara":308uis7v said:Has anyone seen a study on feeder performance for polled vs. non-polled cattle? I recently had a baldy feeder that had horn buds and did exceptional on feedout.
Because you said "a" baldy feeder, I'm thinking you had one horned animal in a bunch of polled feeder animals. If so, of course he would do better - his horns gave him the advantage over the rest of the bunch, and he got more feed. Had the entire bunch been horned, he would not have had the advantage and probably would not have done as well.
Red Bull Breeder":308uis7v said:I think most of the folks that have posted on this thread should back and really read the post that started the thread. Depending on the breed of cattle horned calves will out preform polled calves even if the horned calves have been dehorned.
TexasBred":308uis7v said:Check out this link. Does a very good job of explaining "when" to dehorn, why dehorn and effects of dehorning. Draw your own conclusions:
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_horned_vs_polled/
bigbull338":31bdhbe9 said:sounds like you had a calf with scurrs.an not full fledge horns.
dcara":ceonqcjq said:msscamp":ceonqcjq said:dcara":ceonqcjq said:Has anyone seen a study on feeder performance for polled vs. non-polled cattle? I recently had a baldy feeder that had horn buds and did exceptional on feedout.
Because you said "a" baldy feeder, I'm thinking you had one horned animal in a bunch of polled feeder animals. If so, of course he would do better - his horns gave him the advantage over the rest of the bunch, and he got more feed. Had the entire bunch been horned, he would not have had the advantage and probably would not have done as well.
Actually I said "...horn buds..." i.e. not full horns. These were about an inch (or less) long. So some horn genetics were there, but these horns were not a consideration in defending his area of the trough. Other attributes were that he was calmer than the others, always first to the trough (but not aggressive) and the last to leave. I believe these attributes are often typical of feeders with good gain performance, but, I was wondering if these attributes are also typical of cattle with some horn genetics. I'm a small time feeder and have fed only a little over 100 calves over the past 6 years or so and this is the first time I fed one with any horn genetics that I knew of.