Horns pros & cons

I've never dehorned a cow. I don't believe in it.

I have had a goat break off a horn (twice). Each time, the amount of blood and gore was horrible. Two grown men who were trimming her hooves at the time one broke off, got upset and left. They won't come back.

If you're afraid of horns, then get a polled cow. There are many breeds, including Dexters, that have polled cows in it.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

Horned animals are dangerous. Period. I've seen first-hand what a horned steer can do to another animal; once it was when one steer killed another steer with his horns simply by pushing up against the neck with them, and a second one when a stampeding herd had rammed another steer giving the injured steer a big, insightly hole in the thigh. I've never had to have the experience of getting injured by a horned animal (even though I've worked with them in the chute many times), luckly.

Even if every one says horned cattle are dangerous, polled cattle can be dangerous too, if you give them a (or they have a) reason to turn on you.

Since we background cattle, we have no choice of whether we get only polled or otherwise. Lately we've been getting, out of the whole herd, ~10-15% of the steer calves are horned. Those horned ones have their horns cut off ASAP.

I personally don't like dehorning. A: too much blood, B: too stressful for both animal and handler, and C: the animal has to be given a lot of time to recover. I prefer, if I went to the cow-calf thing, to have all animals polled.

That's my 2 cents for the day.

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If you decide to disbudd the calves(totally different than dehorning and completely bloodless), I'd reccomend using an electric disbudding iron. It is very easy and in my mind is more humane and less dangerous than the paste. I do our calves with the iron and usually between 100-200 goat kids a year. Its fast and they act like nothing has happened after a little bit. No horns to worry about and MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less traumatic than dehorning.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

We're with the 'no horn' group. One of the benefits with AI-ing Jerseys with Lowline semen is that the calf is naturally polled. QED - one less problem to deal with