Volume 8, No. 6
DEHORN WITHOUT PAIN
By: Russ Schnepper, D. V. M.
Be nice to your calf and dehorn it without pain. It can be done effectively and painlessly at a very low cost. Personally, I get sick at my stomach at the smell of burning flesh. I have a dairy client whose calves have a hole in their ear that is due to the way they held the calf when they did the electric dehorning. Why not avoid the stress to you and your calf and dehorn the calf with Dr. Larson's Dehorning Paste?
Paste dehorning got a bad name because the paste was not the right consistency and not easy to apply. So the job was not done correctly and the calf ended up with a scur.
Dr. Larson's Dehorning Paste is packaged in a plastic tube that resembles a mastitis tube, or a horse wormer tube with a ring around the plunger that you unscrew to get the correct dosage. Instead of a teat cannula on the end of the tube there is a projection that has little plastic teeth that are used to roughen the area around the horn button. The contents are more of a gel than a paste.
I will quote the directions on the tube. "Clip hair over horn button. Roughen skin. Do not draw blood. Unscrew ring on syringe handle 1/4 turn. Depress plunger and spread paste over horn button. Confine calf 30 minutes to prevent paste from rubbing off. Keep area protected from rain for 6 hours. May be used on calves up to 8 weeks old. Best results are obtained on younger animals from 1 - 7 days old. Apply as soon as horn button can be felt."
One tube should do 48 horns at a cost of $3.50/tube. An inexpensive tool that works. I have a dairy beef client that applies the paste while the calf is nursing on its bottle - with no restraint. If I were dehorning heifers, I believe I would probably restrain the calf to get a good job, but this client says he does well without holding the calf.
There are many ways to dehorn calves. The Buddex is effective, but it too has to be done correctly or there are scurs. I just do not like to burn the calf. The small barnes dehorners, or gouge do a good job, but it is best if you pull the blood vessels.
I approached the dehorning paste as a skeptic, as I had seen many botched dehornings while they were using the paste. I have watched several of our better clients for the past few years, while they used the Dr. Larson's Dehorning Paste and we and the calves are happy.
Eliminate another stress for the calf and save yourself some work. Use Dr. Larson's Dehorning Paste.
Contact information for ordering information and questions about our products:
Schnepper International, Inc.
3162 County B, Platteville, WI 53818
608-348-6141, Fax: 608-348-6146
www.calfdoctor.com email: rschnep@mhtc.net