fairfarmhand Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 My sweet baby Holstein has horn buds, and we have to do something about them. The electric dehorner came today and I am dreading this procedure. Any tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 :huh: :001_unsure: Wow does this board really span different lifestyles. I am having to guess at what 'horn buds' and 'electric dehorner' are. And I refuse to google, because I'm not sure I want to know anymore. :p Good luck with that! :D signed, A city girl, blissful in her horn ignorance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It should come with directions -- ours did -- follow the directions because the time may vary by brand. To reduce smell of burning hair, use small clippers or an electric razor to trim the hair very short where the iron will rest. Make sure the calf is held very still and make sure the disbudding iron will cover the entire horn bud all the way to the base. If the horn bud does not fit inside the iron, it is too late and you will have to have a vet dehorn instead. Give the calf a bottle afterwards and they will forget all about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It should come with directions -- ours did -- follow the directions because the time may vary by brand. To reduce smell of burning hair, use small clippers or an electric razor to trim the hair very short where the iron will rest. Make sure the calf is held very still and make sure the disbudding iron will cover the entire horn bud all the way to the base. If the horn bud does not fit inside the iron, it is too late and you will have to have a vet dehorn instead. Give the calf a bottle afterwards and they will forget all about it. :eek: :blink: :willy_nilly: Lalalalalalala. I can't HEAR YOU! {Runs away, back to her blissful ignorance!} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Well, we dehorned 4 kid goats and 2 went well and 2 didn't. If you don't do it right you'll end up with crazy little bits of horn left growing. However, I also know someone who held the iron on too long and literally burned through the skull. Definitely follow the instructions carefully, make sure the calf is the right age and if at all possible get help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 It should come with directions -- ours did -- follow the directions because the time may vary by brand. To reduce smell of burning hair, use small clippers or an electric razor to trim the hair very short where the iron will rest. Make sure the calf is held very still and make sure the disbudding iron will cover the entire horn bud all the way to the base. If the horn bud does not fit inside the iron, it is too late and you will have to have a vet dehorn instead. Give the calf a bottle afterwards and they will forget all about it. Well, we dehorned 4 kid goats and 2 went well and 2 didn't. If you don't do it right you'll end up with crazy little bits of horn left growing. However, I also know someone who held the iron on too long and literally burned through the skull. Definitely follow the instructions carefully, make sure the calf is the right age and if at all possible get help. Believe me Bethany. I am wishing that I could run away with my fingers in my ears. This cute little thing is what we will be dehorning. Sigh. I wish she'd been polled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Well, we dehorned 4 kid goats and 2 went well and 2 didn't. If you don't do it right you'll end up with crazy little bits of horn left growing. However, I also know someone who held the iron on too long and literally burned through the skull. Definitely follow the instructions carefully, make sure the calf is the right age and if at all possible get help. Yeah, my Jersey has 2 horn scurs. Ironically one of the scurs was knocked off when she went head to head (literally) with one of our Angus cows. It looks so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooCow Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 :eek: :blink: :willy_nilly: Lalalalalalala. I can't HEAR YOU! {Runs away, back to her blissful ignorance!} You are cracking me up today!! I can't wait to see what you're going to post next! :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Believe me Bethany. I am wishing that I could run away with my fingers in my ears. This cute little thing is what we will be dehorning. Sigh. I wish she'd been polled. Is that the adorable little baby cow your dh bought you? SO cute. I don't know what polled is. I'm assuming that dehorning is a good preventative sort of thing to do for cows? Either way, it sounds like a heartbreaking thing to have to do. Kind of like vaccinating, if you choose to do that for your kids, right? It's just so funny, because I live in a townhouse in the city. I grew up in the city, have always lived in the city. I've never lived anywhere where we could own a cow. But I would like to some day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It will be fine. She will bawl like crazy and restraint will be needed. If a scur shows up you can reburn it. But trust me, do it good the first time and you should be fine. I've done enough...the baby goats are the worst as far as the noise they can put out during it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Is that the adorable little baby cow your dh bought you? SO cute. I don't know what polled is. I'm assuming that dehorning is a good preventative sort of thing to do for cows? Either way, it sounds like a heartbreaking thing to have to do. Kind of like vaccinating, if you choose to do that for your kids, right? It's just so funny, because I live in a townhouse in the city. I grew up in the city, have always lived in the city. I've never lived anywhere where we could own a cow. But I would like to some day! Polled= cows that never have horns, naturally. Black angus, the beef cows that we own are naturally polled. Many dairy varieties like Jersey and Holstein are mostly horned. Polled genes are dominant over horned genes. If you breed a polled bull to a horned mama the offspring will be polled. Dehorn= to remove the horns of a cow. If you do it young it can be a bloodless minor procedure. Otherwise it's very messy and there's risk of infection. Yes, this is the sweet little thing that my dh bought me. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Well, um, you could always pay the vet (or bribe a neighbor with cookies) to come over and show you how to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Polled= cows that never have horns, naturally. Black angus, the beef cows that we own are naturally polled. Many dairy varieties like Jersey and Holstein are mostly horned. Polled genes are dominant over horned genes. If you breed a polled bull to a horned mama the offspring will be polled. Dehorn= to remove the horns of a cow. If you do it young it can be a bloodless minor procedure. Otherwise it's very messy and there's risk of infection. Yes, this is the sweet little thing that my dh bought me. :( So, if you feel like educating this city girl, why is it bad to just let them have their horns? I mean obviously you're not removing them for fun or looks, but I have no idea why it's bad for them to have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It will be fine. She will bawl like crazy and restraint will be needed. If a scur shows up you can reburn it. But trust me, do it good the first time and you should be fine. I've done enough...the baby goats are the worst as far as the noise they can put out during it... Every time we disbudded the baby goats, I was sure we were going to have CPS called on us. But half an hour later and they'd be bouncing off the walls and playing king of the hill again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 So, if you feel like educating this city girl, why is it bad to just let them have their horns? I mean obviously you're not removing them for fun or looks, but I have no idea why it's bad for them to have them. Because they cows are a lot bigger than us and a swing of that head even in play can cause serious injury. Plus they get them hooked on things sometimes and that's annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Every time we disbudded the baby goats, I was sure we were going to have CPS called on us. But half an hour later and they'd be bouncing off the walls and playing king of the hill again. Yep. Typical goats...banding was even more interesting...but that's a whole 'nother topic that I'm sure would make some of the city gals faint, ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 So, if you feel like educating this city girl, why is it bad to just let them have their horns? I mean obviously you're not removing them for fun or looks, but I have no idea why it's bad for them to have them. Because (quite literally) you can put someone's eye out with that! We have two cows who only have one eye due to other, horned cows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Because they cows are a lot bigger than us and a swing of that head even in play can cause serious injury. Plus they get them hooked on things sometimes and that's annoying. Ah. I see how they could be dangerous to people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 yup. Cows with horns can be very dangerous. To both humans and other cows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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