MORE FARMERS ARE DEHORNING DAIRY COWS NOW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 54, 21 October 1949, Page 5

MORE FARMERS ARE DEHORNING DAIRY COWS NOW

There is an increasing realisation among Bay of Plenty farmers that horns are no longer of any use to the dairy cow. She no longer needs them to fight for self protection or for the protection of her young. Consequently many farmers now are dehorning cows. Of several farmers spoken to most of them said they preferred cows now without horns. Otherwise they were liable to injure other cows in the shed or yard and sometimes accidentally injure attendants. Another said that cows seemed to be quieter when they realised they no longer had horns. Usually they were much easier to handle. Horns Are Dangerous There was a difference of opinion about letting bulls retain their horns. Those with horns are decidedly dangerous and the only excuse for allowing any animal to keep the horns is appearance; it is questionable, however, whether on most animals horns really improve , the appearance.

Still, horns do sometimes increase the selling price of an animal and may better its chance of winning in the show ring, according to one farmer. As long as these conditions exist, there will probably be owners who will want the horns left on their registered animals. In dehorning cattle or in preventing horn growth, the skin from which the horns grow should be removed or destroyed. In the young calf, this skin covers the horn button; later it lies at the base of the horn and surrounds it.

When young calves are a few days to a week old, the growth of horns may be permanently arrested by rubbing the horn button with caustic soda or caustic potash until the outer, skin is removed. This can be done most easily as soon as the horn button can be definitely located. Older cattle are dehorned with a saw or clippers. May Grow Again

The skin at the base of the horns should be removed with the horns. If any of this skin is left the horns will grow again and produce what are known as "scurs."

Pine tar usually is applied after the horns are removed. This helps' to keep away flies and probably assists in checking the bleeding. To avoid attacks by flies, it is best to dehorn late in the autumn, during the winter, or early in the spring. Experiments indicate that the milk flow of dairy cows is not seriously affected by dehorning.