Dehorning with paste
Dehorning
We have horned cattle and we have dehorned cattle. Our children and grandchildren show in 4-H and they aren't allowed to take horned animals to our fair. We aren't debating horns, we're simply showing what has worked best for us and for our animals with the least amount of stress for all involved.
Go get your calf, yes normal people lead them - we aim for 3 days old, no more than 5 or 6 days.
Shave the horn buds and a bit around them, just borrow your husband's beard trimmer, he'll never know.
Tell your calf she's cute while your kids gather the supplies you forgot to grab.
Make sure the above mentioned kid got a nice circle of hair removed before he put the beard trimmers away. Just trim all the hair covering the bump where the horn would grow.
Grab a couple of cotton rounds, I have a friend who rips in half a pantyliner, whatever works for you.
Get a small dab of dehorning paste using a popsicle stick. You could use a butter knife or any sort of flat spreading type object but popsicle sticks are cheap and disposable, no dishes.
*Please note the small amount, you only want a layer covering the horn bud, we're only using a little!*
Put the cotton round on top of the paste, this will stop the tape from smearing it all over, we don't want paste all over her head.
Wrap a piece of duct tape around her head or a few pieces depending on the quality of your tape. I like the cheap kind so it doesn't pull her hair off when we remove it.
This will protect her mother's udder when you let her go to her mom and nurse.
Tell her she's cute again.
Let the calf go hang out with it's dam or in the case of this little stinker, run around making her mom moo.
About 3 hours later we remove the tape, we don't do anything but remove it, no touching, wiping, washing, nothing. There are times we just leave the tape on overnight, that works too.
This particular cow was born in 2014, I dehorned her with paste. She has never grown any horns or scurs. This method has always been 100% successful for us.
This is the kind of paste we use. I did try another brand once, it was in a bottle with a squeeze type dropper and was liquid. I was not comfortable with it and was afraid it would end up in a calf's eye. This is the only kind I have used successfully. There may be other brands just as good, I simply don't have that knowledge.