Dehorning Cattle.

Manawatu Herald, 5 February 1898, Page 2

Dehorning Cattle.

By the courtesy of Mr William i LangdoD, manager of the Motoa Estate, a repre.sentative from tbia journal was present yesterday at the commencement of the dehorning of the cattlo on the estate. Dehorning • i 3 simply taking the horns off the head of the toasts, -big and little, anl the operation is carried 1 out as simply and a* quickly as tha guillolino arrang m^ots at the hiUorioal F. each revolution, the dehorning i knifs bsing constructed wry nwoh ! on tha principal of the old French \ :' behealing instrument. H WHY DEHORN ? j Why should cattled be dehorned f~^t a natural question to put to a man j who one sees bu9y at shearing these ! appendages off hia cattle as fast ai he can. Though to tome eyes the j absence of horns gives a more com- j pact appaarance to an animal it may j i be taken for granted the work ia not i'l carried out simply for appearance, but that there are other and more profitable reasons. The horns of in animal provides it with an effective mean* of defence and offence, and was of material value to him when f he sought his own living and had to defend himself against foes. Now man feeds him on themo9t succulent * i of pastures, provides him with the best of artesian water, watches over his safety so that no dogs shall worry j him or bigger beasts shall knock him about, and now he requires ni% horns, and the favourite breedi are^i what are termed "polled" beastf, i those who have naturally no horns. !' Still cattle with horns are bred and i for tha convenience of the majority ihey have to be dehorned. THE YAKDB. " First catch your haro before you 'i I cook it " is an old proverb, and s(H i nrat prepare your yards for tha work they have to do, before muttering, is equally applicable. Hava a?good long race, say, to hold 15 to 20 animalß, and then have a pen with battened floor about 8 feet in length, with small gate from lead, and a bail, as described at the other end. One side of thin pan must be hung as $ a door to let the beast out after being * operated upon. The end where the bail i 3 must be close boarded 2 feet 8 inches from the ground and on one side a large po3t 12 inohes by 12 inches placed 9 feet out of the gronnd, on thia the lever works. A long ■trong post about 12 feet high must be erected on the other side of the psn to lift; the lever up. The p£^ will have at the fir end an opening shaped tbus-^ - throagh which the beasts endeavour to jump to get from the pan. and directly the beast has raised his head over and through the opening the lever ia brought down and his head is held in position / for the knife.

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THE CUTTING, 7he dehorning knife, an American tool* resembles a pair of tongs at the junction of the two arms there being a round hold about four incbas in diameter up which a knife shaped at fe an angle is worked by cogwheels by * closing the arms. It is both light and strong. The beast's head, being in position one man gets holc'i of its noso to give the head a turn and the operator slips the iron hole of the ktjifVovor the horn, taking care that it if well down on the skull before cutting, and then closing the arms J^ogettier off drops the horn. The off another man applies a tar brush to th» wound, taking care however to put it on dry so as to avoid any of it getting into the eyes of the animal. The lever is then lifted and the side gate thrown open and out the beast goes into the yard. . THE TIME. It is wonderful how quickly the job is done, the chiefest delay being in the time the beast takes to put his head through the bail. The wilder the animal the quicker he is to seize the smallest opportunity to , get away and thus jumps at the chance that appears to be offering, and on the other hand the tamer the beast is the more troublesome it is to induce it to put his head where it i» wanted. However by the number done whilst we were present from 60 to 80 bead an hour can easily be operated upon. THE BENEFIT. "Why dehorning adds value to the beast arises from his power of offence being taken away from him, and he works better, obeying the direction of the dogs in drafting, knowing that he cannot assault them as in the days before, he cannot impress his feelings on his neighbours *h?n penned up in yards or trucks and thus is unable to scratch and bruise them, he also takes up less room in the world and in the railway truck. Owing to his knowledge of the inferiority of his fighting gear he alters in manner and becomes quieter and thus feeds and fattens faster. These are the reasons given to us based on the experience of Mr McCaul, manager of the Mata Mata station, who has during the last 12 months dehorned 6000 head of cattle. Dehorning should not be done too early in the spring or too late in the autumn. It has been carried out in the middle of summer without bad results.