DEHORNING & DISBUDDING IN FARM ANIMALS
Dehorning means removal of well grown horns. Disbudding means arresting the horn growth at an early age, when the horn root is in the bud stage.
- Horn serves no useful purpose.
Purpose
- Dehorned animals will need less space in the sheds.
- Cattle with horns inflict bruises on each other that may result in heavy economic losses.
- Horned animals are a danger to the operator.
- Dehorned animals can be handled more easily.
- Prevents the occurrence of horn cancer.
Optimum age: 15 to 20 days.
Methods
- Hot iron method
- A specially designed electric dehorner is used for this purpose. This is bloodless method it may be used at any season.
- The rod heated with electricity has an automatic control that maintain the temperature at about 10000 F, applying it to the horn bud for l0 seconds is sufficient to destroy the horn tissue.
- Elastrator
- A specially made thick rubber ring applied to the base of the horn.
- The rubber band shuts off circulation and the horn gradually comes off. Small buds drop off in 3 to 6 weeks and large horns may take even 2 months.
- It is a painful method and this method is used on cattle when the horn length is about 5-10 cm.
- Chemical method
- Caustic potash or caustic soda is the common chemical used for dehorning.
- These are available in the form of paste or solution.
- Clip the hair around the horn buds and surrounding area, a ring of Vaseline to protect the eyes against chemicals.
- Rub the chemical over the buds until bleeding occurs.
- Dehorning saw or clippers
- When older cattle are to be dehorned a specially designed clippers or saw are used.
- A considerable amount of bleeding may follow the operations.
- To prevent the bleeding the main horn artery should be tied off with a cotton or silk thread.
- This may be done by sliding a sewing needle under the artery to pull the thread in place before tying.
- It is necessary when sawing or clipping the horns, to take about half an inch of skin in order to get at the horn roots.
Benefits of Disbudding and Dehorning
Dehorning cattle conveys advantages. Horns are the single major cause of carcass wastage due to bruising, and trim associated with bruising for carcasses from horned cattle is approximately twice that for carcasses from hornless cattle. Dehorned cattle require less feeding trough space; are easier and less dangerous to handle and transport; present a lower risk of interference from dominant animals at feeding time; pose a reduced risk of injury to udders, flanks, and eyes of other cattle; present a lower injury risk for handlers, horses, and dogs; exhibit fewer aggressive behaviors associated with individual dominance; and may incur fewer financial penalties on sale.
Disbudding
Disbudding involves destroying the horn-producing cells (corium) of the horn bud. Horn buds are removed without opening the frontal sinus. Chemical and hot-iron disbudding methods destroy the horn-producing cells, whereas physical methods of disbudding excise them. Several methods for disbudding cattle exist, but each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Hot-iron disbudding is commonly performed and is reliable, but is considered to be quite painful. Electrical and butane hot-iron disbudding devices are available. Excessive heat applied during hot-iron disbudding can damage underlying bone. Disbudding via cautery may create less distress than physical dehorning using a scoop because nociceptors are destroyed by heat and pain perception is consequently reduced. Caustic materials (e.g., sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide) applied to the horn bud can damage surrounding skin and/or the eyes if runoff occurs; as long as the active chemical is in contact with tissue, damage continues. Injection of calcium chloride under the horn bud results in necrosis of the horn bud, but its administration without prior sedation and/or local anesthesia is not recommended due to the level of discomfort induced by the procedure. Cryosurgical techniques are less reliable than hot-iron disbudding, require additional procedural time, and induce behavioral indicators of pain and distress. Horn buds can be physically removed, using knives, shears, or dehorning spoons, cups, or tubes. To remove the corium and prevent horn regrowth, a complete ring of hair surrounding the horn bud should also be removed.
Dehorning
Dehorning is removal of the horns after they have formed from the horn bud. Physical methods of dehorning (gouge dehorning) include the use of embryotomy wire, guillotine shears, or dehorning knives, saws, spoons, cups, or tubes. The Barnes-type scoop dehorner is commonly used for physical dehorning.
The presence of the corneal diverticulum’s of the frontal sinus causes surgical dehorning of adult cattle to be more invasive. Dehorning of adult cattle is associated with increased risks of sinusitis, bleeding, prolonged wound healing, and infection.
Points to remember
Disbudding of calves and kids means removing the very early developing horn base to prevent horn growth. It’s a procedure carried out routinely for management reasons.
It is good practice to disbud all calves unless they are of a naturally polled type. Horns can cause a lot of damage to other cattle, and to stock handlers, particularly when they are yarded or penned or transported.
- Horned cattle should be penned separately for transport.
- There are advantages in disbudding goat kids too. Goats with horns can use them to good effect on other goats, and horns get hooked up in fences.
- Horn buds begin to appear around the time of birth or within a week or so of birth.
- Disbudding should be carried out while the buds are still very small, well before they become too large for a disbudding iron to fit over.
- Feel around the poll of young calves daily from a few days of age to check the horn buds, and disbud as soon as they form small hard caps.
- For most calves the best age for disbudding is from 3 to 6 weeks of age.
- Goat horns often appear earlier than calf horns and they grow faster, so check kids daily from birth.
Hot iron
- The most humane method is use of a custom-made circular hot iron to cauterize the tissue around the base of the horn.
- The procedure should take only a few seconds, but it’s painful, skill is required and applying a hot iron to the head requires firm restraint of the animal.
- Don’t be too forceful, especially with goat kids. Because of their smaller size and thinner skull they are more prone to injury from excess force or deep burns.
Don’t use caustic paste
- There are caustic chemicals on the market for disbudding.
- These are applied to the horn bud to cause chemical burns to permanently damage the horn-producing area.
- The caustic chemicals are easily rubbed onto sensitive skin (like the youngster’s mother’s udder or other calves!), and in wet conditions they can be washed down the face, causing painful burns.
- The risks generally don’t justify use of caustic pastes for disbudding.
Disbudding using a scoop
- Another method of disbudding calves is by amputation using a metal scoop.
- The disbudding scoop is a special instrument designed to gouge out the small horn bud and its base.
- There is bleeding, more chance of infection than with cautery disbudding and it is a painful procedure.
Get a vet to do it!
- For the animal’s sake, disbudding is best carried out by a veterinarian using a gas or electric cautery iron with appropriate pain control (a strong sedative, pain killer and/or anesthetic).
- The few dollars extra per calf or kid is a small price to pay for a painless and relatively stress-free procedure with a quick recovery and no complications such as infections.
- Employing a vet also means that castration, tagging and any minor surgical procedures like removal of extra teats can be carried out painlessly at the same time.
Disbud early
- It is much more humane to disbud calves than to dehorn older cattle. The greater size and strength of older animals make them much more difficult to restrain for dehorning, there is more bleeding and a greater risk of infection.
- Reference-on request
