You mess with the bull - You get the horns!

That quote is often used by people and means, "Don't mess with me or there will be repercussions."

On the farm, the saying has some real significance whether you "mess" with the animal or not.  Horns can be dangerous on farm animals.  While they are a defense mechanism for the animal against predators and other animals, they can injure and/or kill other livestock or humans.  Even if the animal is not aggressive, oftentimes they will jerk their heads back quickly to swat flies.  This innocent move could gouge you.  Can you imagine being hit in the eye?  Both bulls and heifers can grow horns.

It is for this reason that we de-horn our animals.  There are several ways to do this:

1. Electric De-horning: this method takes a hot iron and burns the horn bud, killing its growth.
2. Cutting the horns: this method uses a saw to cut off the horns once they have fully grown.
3. De-horning paste: this method uses a caustic agent to chemically burn the cells of the horn bud.

We've used the first and last methods on our calves and I've used the middle method at our farm in Oberlin.  I'll be honest, none of the options are appealing and I'm always happy once the job is done.  You can tell the dehorning is not an enjoyable experience, but there doesn't appear to be any pain after a couple of hours.  You want to do this as soon as you can feel the little horn buds begin to emerge from the animal's skull - the earlier the better.  Today we'll be using Dr. Naylor's de-horning paste to get the job done.

Here goes.  Tricia and I caught little 'Bully' and put a halter on him.  In this case the calf halter we have is too big so we used a goat halter. 


Bully with a goat halter on

I've brushed back some of the hair on his head so that I can see exactly where the horn buds are located.  They are protruding maybe 1/8 of an inch at this point.


Horn buds

I've attached the halter to a rope tied to a post to keep Bully restrained.


What's going on here?

Then I take some clippers and shave the area around the horn bud so that I can see to properly apply the dehorning paste.


Shave and a Haircut.  2 bits.

Here is a photograph of the Dehorning Paste.  It can be purchased at most any feed store. 

De-horning Paste

Once the area around each horn bud is shaved, you'll want to build a barrier or dam about 1 inch outside of the horn bud area with Petroleum Jelly.  This keeps the paste from running and getting anywhere else but on the horn bud itself.

Petroleum Jelly encircling the horn bud

It is very important to wear gloves to perform this task.  You don't want to get this stuff on your skin.  I use a Popsicle stick to apply a thin coating about the size of a quarter on the horn bud and surrounding area.


Applying the de-horning paste

You'll want to sit with the animal and restrain him.  Tricia and I sat out in the barn with him until 10:30 pm or so or about 45 minutes. 

You can see the reddish tinged de-horning paste I'm applying.

Because this stuff is caustic, you don't want him rubbing it on other areas, other animals, or on you!  So, we use duct tape (is there anything that it can't be used for?) to make a covering or cap over the areas in which we've applied the paste.  We also keep him in the corral by himself.  The last thing you want him doing is to go to nurse off of Daisy and get this on her udder.   

One of the many uses for duct tape

Bully pulled and pulled against the post.  We petted him and he calmed down.  You can see below that the areas that we applied the de-horning paste are completely covered and protected.


Got my thinking cap on...

In the morning, we simply removed the duct tape, wiped off the area with a rag and Bully was good to go.
He immediately ran to Daisy and began nursing and seemed completely fine.  Good to have that behind us!  I'm sure he feels the same way.