I have a ram who's horn is growing over his eye. Can I cut it then use the dehorning to stop the bleeding ? Thanks ~ Patty
We had one do that (99% of mine are polled or have scurs at worst) We just cut it back 6 inches and there was no blood.
Patty, the ram we had last year had one of his horns growing into his head, just above the eye, while the other curled nicely. We would just take the nippers for trimming horse hooves, and cut it back an inch or so, then again as it grew. I think you could use something like a heavy duty pruner too. It's a two person job, unless you can restrain him really well! Good luck, Jan in CO
Horse hoof nippers here too! I'm sure a hack saw would cut it. Rams horn is much softer than a cows horn, different construction too.
Yep, hacksaws work well. So do pruning saws. The horn, as Ross said, is much softer than cow's horn - more along the lines of toenails or even fingernails. Remember, they serve a different purpose - cow's horns are daggers, ram's horns are shock absorbers when they butt heads.
We've had to do this on some of our sheep. We've just used a wire saw. Make sure you have someone able to control the sheep and keep his head still. It's a pretty quick and painless operation.
Thanks for the reply's. My back is hurting already!!! I trimmed all the goats hoofs yesterday, today it seems I will be cutting a horn. Maybe a town job would be easier????? Na, what was I thinking????? Thanks again. ~ Patty
I've never done it, but how would one of those saws meant for cutting PVC pipe work? Thats just a thick piece of wire between 2 handles? Not sure what its called. Then you could cut away from the rams head instead of towards. Leah
I can't tell you how far would be too far to cut, but at some stage you'd be getting into the core which is richly blood-supplied. Cut back two inches and you'll be fine. Cut back four inches? Six inches? Dunno, but somewhere along the way you'll strike blood. Not necessarily bad, but you will want to make sure the bleeding stops, and you will want to make sure there's no fly-strike. Having a red-hot iron (say a soldering iron) ready could be a good thing. Also have some powdered alum on hand to stop bleeding.
