Dehorning this heifer

[Awnry Abe]

DW posted a picture of one of our hopefully-future milkers in CF. Seeing it made me think of her dreadful horns.



She is using them without abandon on the other cows. It is only a matter of time before she doesn't like what I have to say about something...

I have a second and third dairy heifer. One also uses them just the same, one does not. I definitely need to deal with the two that are causing grief. (They were both bottle-baby pen mates.).

Should I deal with the third at the same time, even if she isn't using them for ill gain?

Not to start a religious horn discussion, but what is the best route of dealing with this issue at this point?

Other facts that may be relevant:

The "peaceful one" is due to calf this week, the other two at the end of April.
All three are super gentle.
The one shown in the pic has a tremendously sized bag, but nearly un-milkable ----y teats.

[Awnry Abe]

Is "d i n k y" a bad word?

[Judy in IN]

A perfect set of horns! Sorry, I know you don't like them. I've seen people cut off the tips, so the horn ends are blunt.

Have also seen people put those Kong dog balls on the ends, which does away with the sharp tips.

If she were to ever try to knock ME with her horns, we would have a "Come to Jesus" experience! Horns or no, a cow needs to respect their handler.

[ksfarmer]

I wouldn't dehorn them this close to calving. The stress could cause problems. After they calve would be fine. Much more preferable to have done it at an earlier age.

[Jennifer L.]

I would definitely tip them. It's one thing if she bruises other cows, another entirely if she starts punching holes in them, and what she has will punch holes when she's hooking them into other cows. You can tip them without drawing blood, since it's like cutting fingernails where you won't get into the "quick" if you don't go in far. Cut to leave a surface area about an inch and a quarter across and you'll start seeing the other cows with shaved areas on their sides where she horns them, but they will dull up soon enough.

If you want to take them all the way off, wait until she freshens, and if it's warmer (flies) weather, wait until fall to do it.

I really doubt she'd ever go after you with them, but a cow's head with no horns on it at all can still hurt!

I do know of a local woman (years ago now) that was hurt badly by a cow with horns in the barn. She was in a stanchion and the woman was working near her head, not thinking about the cow at all, and the cow hooked at her and had enough room to get her pretty hard.

The only place I've ever been too concerned about a cow's horns/head is when I've been out in the pasture with a cow with a new calf. You always have to be careful around them until you know what kind of mother they are. All of my dogs through the years knew exactly what "Mother Cow" meant. I said those words and it meant the dog sits down and waits 100' away and doesn't hide behind me when I'm walking up to the new calf.

Good luck with them when they freshen!

[Sparkie]

Dehorning is brutal on a cow... seriously. Btdt and would never ever do it again. I would tip the horns or glue balls on them.

[opportunity]

The caltrate (probibly not spelled right) castration tool can be used to band the horns they fall off after some time since the blood supply is stopped. We are thinking about doing our jersey as she is using her horns on the other cows and she was definatly thinking about using them on me (putting her head down and coming toward the fence) I think this "might" be the best way. I leave horns most of the time but some cows need them gone nothign wrong with that.

[MO_cows]

I would tip them or put the balls on them. I would not surgically remove them at that age/size animal. But even if you wanted to, you can't do it right now because it's too much stress too close to calving. Then it will be fly season, so you have to wait for fall. That is a long time off, you want the problem solved now. So blunt the tips or glue on the balls.

[Oakshire_Farm]

My first Jersey ha a set just like those, they WERE beautiful, till they hit me in the middle of my back! I called the vet, he knocked her right out, gave her a local the same as you would to dehorn a calf. Sawed them off with a wire saw, there was a little drip of blood om one side. He cauterized the opening, then she woke up a horn-less cow!

I would do it again in a heart beat! She did not miss a beat. It was easy on her and much easier to work around her.

[Jersey/guernsey]

With horns that big, I’d band them.
It only bothers the cow for a minute or two (they complain more about the hair pulling then anything else) and they drop off in four/six weeks. Beautiful heifer by the way

[cnsper]

What's the big deal about horns?

If they were really going to hurt you, it would not matter if they had horns or not. Watch a rodeo. At least if she has horns you have a chance of throwing her if you need to. You also have something to hold on to until you can get loose.

How many people or cows have you seen gored? I mean with an actual hole in them. In nearly half a century, I have never known of someone that was gored and I do not know someone that knows someone that was gored and I have not heard of anyone being gored.

Now I used to work a livestock auction and we did have some highlanders come through that I swear thought we were feed and all of them had horns and no one got gored. I have seen a sow with cubs that was tamer than these cows and she was 10 feet from my front door when I opened it in the morning.

Dairies that I worked never dehorned, I work around highlanders and they are not dehorned. Although even I could not throw one of those miniature buffalo... LOL

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by cnsper

What's the big deal about horns?

They hurt. I don't need any to tell me stories to know.

[BlackWillowFarm]

I had a 1000lb steer with horns. He was the only one with them. He loved ripping up the shelter, fence posts, barn siding and anything else he could jab those horns in, but he never threatened me. The day I watched him come galloping up to my old milk cow then slam her in the ribs with his horns was the day I decided never to have horns on my farm again. She was okay, but it took me a while to get over it. No more horns on this farm.

[happydog]

When I first saw the picture I thought "oh what a perfect set of Jersey horns!" I know a lot of people are idealistic about keeping a cow natural. Yes they are beautiful and it's lovely to leave your cow as Mother Nature intended and all that.

But those horns can inflict a lot of damage. I've read, and heard from my neighbors, way too many stories of people thinking their sweet cow would never hurt them. But they only have to toss their head at a fly and if you're standing in the wrong spot... Never mind when they're hormonal.

When we first started with cows I procrastinated getting our calves dehorned. Mostly because I didn't know how. Our first bull calf was steered and he had a sweet and docile disposition. I thought he would be ok with horns because he was a short timer. But when he finally figured out that he had horns, he used them to boss the cows unmercifully. Everybody was glad to see him go to freezer camp before he did some real damage.

Our first heifer we finally had to call the vet out when she was about a year, year and a half old. He put her to sleep and sawed them off. She was just fine and dandy when she woke up but it was pretty traumatic for me to watch and I resolved to never have to resort to that again.

I use semen from polled bulls as one way to avoid dealing with dehorning. But then we decided to raise bottle calves and now we're back to dehorning. I use dehorning paste on the new calves as soon as I get them.

In my opinion it's perfectly safe to have horned animals on your farm. Right up until the day it's not. One day it's all fine and happy, and the next day you're in the hospital wondering what the hell happened. You can learn from other people's mistakes, or you can be the horrible example that other people learn from.

I don't have any advice for the OP except maybe to ask your vet if it's too late to saw them off. After they calve. As for the "peaceful one" it's only a matter of time before she discovers that she can use her horns to push the others around, or she learns to use them in self defense. In either case she needs hers taken off too. I would for sure get some Kong cones for them asap.

If it was me, if I couldn't take them off safely and humanely, I'd probably sell them. I have kids and I can't afford a horned animal on my property. We also have a motto on our farm, "Life's too short to eat hospital food."

[Chaty]

I have used the bull bander to dehorn and have disbudded before but when they get that big set of horns you can use a hand grinder with a new blade in it and it spins so fast it cauterizes it as it cuts. You have to make sure they cant move their heads when you use it. I also put them in the squeeze chute to do this. The paste stings like the dickens and burns very bad and you have to be careful it wont drip or be scratched into the eyes. Or if you can afford it call a vet. There are alot of options but if she is due to calve soon I would separate her till then then have it done.

[Double H Ranch]

we bought a three yr old cow that had horns, she had always been pushy at feeding time and one day she caught me by the knee with one of those suckers and I didn't think I'd ever get loose. The next day she was at the vet getting them cut off.(He charged me 30 bucks)...a few days later she got an infection at the horn site, I cussed, gave her a few shots and life went on...today she is perfectly hornless and I am perfectly happy! I'd wait until they calve, it was stressful for her but not near as stressful as if I would have been paying hospital bills.

I just edited to add that our vet didn't put her to sleep, just sawed them off with an electric saw.

[tab]

Dh grandma was gored. Her abdomen had mesh in it afterwards. Heard lots of other tales about horns and damage to other cows and buildings. I am definitely dehorning my calves. Have no experience with adult dehorning but it sounds like there's good advice here.

[myersfarm]

I use the Callicrate Smartbander on 20 head of jersey cows...and after 5 to 6 weeks they started falling off and I caught this picture...cows shock heads first 5 minutes some never even did that....but I did catch this picture

Cow does not know whats happening other horn fell off two days later


notice black cow in back ground her's fell off days before

[myersfarm]

also caught this picture same day different cow

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

Found this thanks to your calling the brand name, Myersfarm, think it should put worries to rest: http://www.nobull.net/

And with all respect to cnsper, the heifer may never try to use her horns at all, but they still look like arm grabbers to me.