Around here, the vet burns the horn buds off at approximately 7 weeks of age. After having cows burned by the paste and having calves/heifers dehorned by sawing/scooping at later ages, IMO burning the horn buds at a young age is the most humane way of doing it. There is initial pain, but if the person handling the iron knows what they're doing, the nerves are destroyed immediately and there is no more pain. Their head is tender for a few days, which works perfectly for us -- most of our calves are raised on a bottle and at 7 weeks have just been weaned and burning the horn buds at that point breaks the habit of butting. I must admit that their head looks a bit ugly for a few weeks, but when all is said and done, there is no scarring, the animals exhibit less "post operative" pain, and when totally healed they appear to be naturally polled.
Ann B
> Horns: large farm hundreds of
> calves, we pasted and acid burned
> the nubs as general procedure.
> Small 6-8 head family cows, we let
> the horns grow and then sawed them
> off. Less painful and more humane
> in our view. The problem lies in
> if you have never done this you
> can really screw it up. Cutting
> too deep, cutting too soon and
> ugly cut horns grow out etc. We
> still cut with a saw, but this is
> becoming a lost skill I think (not
> really a difficult skill, but it
> is just not done anymore). If you
> know someone that does it, think
> you can do it and do not mind
> waiting and dealing with horns
> until they are fully grown then
> this is an option. If not then
> call the vet. You should also have
> a vet who you trust and can talk
> to and is willing to take your
> wishes into consideration. Talk to
> your vet, see what she/he has to
> say and can do for you. Burning,
> crushing, scooping always seemed
> more cruel to me then cutting, but
> that is me and on the large farm
> it was not practical to wait a cut
> so we burned. With the heifer I am
> raising now with my son we will
> wait and cut. Thanks, rick
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