DE-HORNING CATTLE
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Most breeds of cattle have horns, in the UK most are De-Horned at around 6 weeks of age, on this page we will show you how this is done. It is done mostly in the intrest of safety
and to prevent the cattle from injuring each other. Great care is taken
to ensure that there is no pain or distress caused to the animals during
this proceedure.
A short period of time is then allowed for the anesthetic to take effect, before the de-horning iron is applied.
Once the iron is red hot it is applied and the "horn bud" as it is called is burned off with a scooping movement. Once removed in this way the outer horn and its soft centre are removed. The burning seals the area an antibiotic
spray is then usually applied as a precaution against infection. The
area will heal in about 2 weeks. Some breeds of cattle such as the Aberdeen
Angus naturally do not grow horns, cattle such as these are called "Polled"
Removing horns is more tricky and so Michael
our vet is called in.
Although this may appear drastic if left with cattle without horns these would soon realize their advantage and be very dominant amongst the others. Outdoors the others could escape but in a shed they could be seriously injured. It is in fact illegal to keep fully grown
and horned cattle together inside. In two weeks time they will join the herd. |