How to Build a Cattle Dehorning Stock

Cattle farmers manage herds for both commercial and personal milking and food needs. Whenever male calves grow up to 8 months old, horns begin to develop. This can cause problems within the herd due to injuries from horn tips. To eliminate this problem, many farmers breed cattle that are hornless. For pure breed stock cattle, however, the farmer can remove the horn through cauterization.

Things You'll Need

  • Calf cradle
  • Hot iron
  • Dressing dusting powder
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Instructions

  1. Breeding Dehorned Stock

    • 1

      Create dehorned cattle stock by mating available females to polled bulls. These are males without horns, such as Aberdeen Angus Bulls. This process creates a stock of hornless calves without having to perform dehorning operations.

    • 2

      Inspect the female cows to ensure they have received the right amount of nutrients during winter forage to bear calves for the spring breeding season. Supplement the animal's cottonseed or milo diet with Vitamin A and E minerals.

    • 3

      Place the polled bull in the same field with the female cattle for spring breeding. Feed the female cows with chelated breeder minerals for 30 days after breeding.

    Manual Dehorn Methods

    • 4

      Dehorn calves at an early age when the horn bud is still immature. Chase the calves into the cattle run, which is a series of corridors made of iron bars that direct cattle into separate holding pens or onto trucks.

    • 5

      Set up a calf cradle at the end of the cattle run. Close the calf into the cradle by lifting up one side and hooking the spring-loaded latch pins. Pull on the cradle side to lower it into a table position.

    • 6

      Heat up the electric hot iron until the end is red. place the hot iron to the horn bud, rolling it around the area to destroy the horn tissue underneath. The horn bud will drop off.

    • 7

      Apply dressing dusting powder to prevent infection and ward off flies. Release the calf from the cradle by unlocking the latches. Inspect the calf's wound every day for the next 10 days to spot any infection.