Removing Scurs/NEW PICTURES/SHOW RESULTS

[tobytonya]

We have a crossbred steer that has scurs-about 11/2-2 inches long; we know there not horns because they wiggle and are loose. The steer is about 7 months old and we need to remove them before the show in Dec. Any suggestions on removing the scurs. Some have told me to just twist them off with pliers, have them burned, or gouge them out?-I would prefer to burn but have never burnt scurs. I would just leave them on, but I'm trying to avoid problems at the shows-someone complaining they are horns. Should I just leave them alone, and if so has anyone ever had a problem at a show with someone suggesting the scurs were horns? Or will the scurs effect the judge's placement.

 

[braunvieh]

We just remove them with a dehorner iron or tool that we would horned calves. If they are small enough to burn off, that is bloodless. However, with scurs, usually they don't bleed much anyway.

 

[grand chaser09]

when we remove them we use a scoop dehorner. then after removing the horns we have made a burner thing. its just a ring of metalbig enough to fit around th horn and use it to burn the base so the horn doesn't gorw back. and when burned it clogs the blood. calf might be a bit touchy about his head afterwards though. hope i could help.

 

[Kenz]

I've got the same problem too, but my show isn't for a while so I'm just letting the scurs be. Bout a wk. ago the steer must been playing around or whatever and knocked one off himself and the other one is really loose so I hope he'll do the same with that one.

When you dehorn him, you've gotta do it right the first time. My friend had a great big steer whose horns got messed up when they dhorned him the first time and so they had to go back and do it again. The steer was REALLY touchy around the head and would flip if you even put your hand near his head. He had to be tagged at the show and that caused a HUGE problem cuz they couldn't even get a hold of his ear. So just make sure you do tryn do it right

 

[Angus Cowman]

if they are long enuff you can use a calicrate bander

 

[Colorado2008]

Find someone that will surgically do it for you. It looks so much better in the long run and it is a lot easier on the cattle.

 

[tobytonya]

Thanks for all the replies. I have contacted my vet and decided to have him remove the scurs surgically. The steer is very tame, and getting him there has been a lot of work. I don't want to do something that is going to ruin all that work. The vet suggest we knock him out, then remove the scurs, so he has no idea of what happened. I will let you know how things go.

 

[Colorado2008]

Just make sure to ask him to re-shape the poll. It will make him look a lot better than if he doesn't.

 

[Keren]

Colorado, what on earth do you mean about having the vet re-shape his poll??

 

[Colorado2008]

Colorado, what on earth do you mean about having the vet re-shape his poll??

What i mean is after the vet removes the scurs, he will chip away at the skull to give the apperance of a polled animal. It's just a cosmetic thing and in my past experiences with this, it looks much better than if you were to leave it be.

 

[Keren]

oh-my-god

sorry but WHO THE HELL CARES WHAT SHAPE HIS HEAD IS??

Its a steer for crying out loud. When they kill it they cut the head off.

Firstly, there are plenty of cattle walking around that have been dehorned, with a square shaped poll, that doesnt seem to affect anyone.

Secondly, why would you put the steer through a longer anaesthetic, a very painful procedure, just for cosmetics sake??

:???:

Sorry I'm just not understanding your POV on this.

 

[Jovid]

oh-my-god

sorry but WHO THE be nice CARES WHAT SHAPE HIS HEAD IS??

Its a steer for crying out loud. When they kill it they cut the head off.

Firstly, there are plenty of cattle walking around that have been dehorned, with a square shaped poll, that doesnt seem to affect anyone.

Secondly, why would you put the steer through a longer anaesthetic, a very painful procedure, just for cosmetics sake??

:???:

Sorry I'm just not understanding your POV on this.

I couldn't agree with you more.....sometimes it's done to disguise the fact that the animal could be a crossbreed instead of purebred. The only problem is most of the time you can see the scars and stitch marks especially if they clip the poll.

To me that should be considered modification to the animal and be disqualified. If the calf was bred to have horns or scurs then show them with horns or scurs. JMO

 

[KNERSIE]

I am no show jock so my opinion don't count for much for USA showring purposes, but...

I dehorn the occasional horned calf as young as possible with a small pocket size burner working with lighter gas. These calves are registered as horned, but dehorned.

Scurs usually only show themselves much later and tend do regrow after dehorning. Personally I leave the scurs be, even on showstring animals, should i remove them the animal will automatically be classified as dehorned here and will lose its poll status.

I just used a scurred bull and as soon as I've pulled him out of the herd and he rejoined the other younger bulls they started headbutting and within minutes he was de-scurred.

 

[Chris H]

Knersie, I thought I'd chime in since you're also a Hereford breeder.
Specific to showing registered Herefords in USA(may apply to other breeds but I don't know other breed requirements!):
If removing horns or scurs from a registered animals, the AHA fieldman must make the call about the animal being horned or scurred. He will sign the registration papers and they should be changed if needed. The scurred animal is then able to show in the polled division of shows if horned/polled is split. If the fieldman does not verify the animal is scurred before the scurs are removed, then the animal is assumed to be horned and must show in the horned division. Scurs & horns are almost always removed from the females but usually left on the bulls.

General horned/scurred observations:
Every jr steer show I've seen requires all horns/scurs removed from steers although scurs less than about 1 inch will often be allowed anyway. Most Jr heifer shows have that requirement also. There is no need to reshape the head on a steer, he is what he is. Generally the head on a scurred animal will look polled when the scurs are removed anyway. Removing horns at weaning or earlier will also leave a nicely shaped poll. Removing horns much later may result in a less appealing shaped poll, but why should the animal go through extra cutting of the bone just to be 'pretty'?

If we need to show within a month or so of dehorning we will have the vet do a cosmetic dehorning. He will numb the area, cut the skin around the horn, remove the horn, and pull the skin back together over the horn area. If you have a couple months then just have them cut off and let it grow over by itself. We've only had a couple cosmetically dehorned and I've come to the conclusion we'll avoid it if possible. Our cosmetically dehorned heifers have been touchier around their polls than ones dehorned the normal way.

 

[Chi496]

Thoes kind of comments about reshaping the steers head must come from some showring novices

 

[Colorado2008]

Thoes kind of comments about reshaping the steers head must come from some showring novices

A showring novice I am not. Do I know it all...absolutly not. But I do know what Im talking about. If you guys don't like the idea of reshaping the poll, by all means don't do it. Its just something that the guy that removes scurs/horns for us does.

 

[tobytonya]

Update:
The scurs were removed. We put the steer in a head gate and the vet used a blocking agent (to numb the area) and removed the scurs with barnes dehorners but did not go too deep. They bled a little and he's wary when anyone gets around his head. We have since got him back in the chute, but the first few minutes were a challange. I've got to clip him and shave his head this weekend before the show on the 13th. I'm not looking forward to shaving the head; he is going to fight like crazy.
We were going to surgically remove the scurs, but the vet wanted $250. This vet removed them for $25, and I felt did it in a humane manner. I expressed to the vet the importance of minizing pain; as another vet wanted to remove the scurs without any numbing agent. His poll looks fine, he's a little thick in his poll but nothing worth paying $250 for.
If anyone is interested in how the show goes, let me know and perhaps I will even try to post pictures from the show. I think we will do well, but we will be showing in the heavy class. Steers can weigh up to 900 at this show and he will come in around 800 or a little over. My 9 year old will also be showing for the first time, he has a shorthorn. Cross your fingers for him, he is really nervous.

 

[Kenz]

thanks for the update! n good luck clippin his head....that should be interesting

and yes, let us know how the show goes, and post some pics!

 

[Chris H]

I've let the hair a bit longer over the poll when it's not completely healed. Use light weight clippers with longer blades and lightly clip downward. You only need to clip it enough to make it neater looking.

 

[chippie]

Wow, your vet is a bit high. Our veterinarian does cosmetic dehorning for $60.

Good luck to your son at the show. I hope that he has fun and a positive experience.