DEHORNING CATTLE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14141, 26 February 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

DEHORNING CATTLE.

A vicious cow with a good pair of korns is a perfect "plague in the cowyard. She allows her companions no peace of mind while she is near them, and she • frequently rushes them against the rails, or jams them into a corner, and scores their sides with her horns- Cows that are worried in that way- bv_ an unkind; and pugnacious companion ,cannot do as well as they ■would if they were not -molested. Beasts for killing are sometimes bruised and otherwise injured hy horned, warlike animals in the inob, and altogether-i horns appear, in domeseticated animals, to be "a nuisancee. - J)ehornhig is resorted to in many cages in order to remove the objectionable horns. Those who. adopt this remedy claim-that iH is quite effectual,, and . that it is quite eas-' of .accomplishment. Some use the dehorning clippers, while others" adotit the method qf burning qfir the tender .horn with caustic as soon as it makes its appearance. But dehorning is a sad disfigurement'. An animal loses in appearance "by losirsg" its horns, althoujjh.a dehorned mob of nafct]e is certainly more pleasant. r to ; work, with than a "horned Jnob_; ;Qopd progress 'has been made ?uruig the last few. yeara in. producing types jot 'polled,; cattle. , Even soma of the horned 'Mnds, such as" ■ Herefords, and Jerseys have been turned into polled, breeds by'.. breeding from ."sports," animals that have been born without, horns by a niistake of Nature. It Has been found possible to fix the ■fo-pe from these, "sports," and if the ■usual eharacteristiei of these breeds. are there is no doubt that these polled kinds will come into favour among, dairymen, breeders, and fatteneis. ;It is believed in some quarters that hornless cattle will yet become ; the "general thing. ,' ; ;But jwithoTrfc dehorning, and withont going m_ for polled breeds, the injury that animals inflict on each other "with. then- horns iriay be greatly minimised by cuttinsr off the tins of horns with a saw. That' often' adopted in the case of bulls that show dangerbus tendencies, "andfit" is wori&y of" adoption in the case of -Vicious cows. There is no need to touch the quick in sawing off the points of the horns. If only a .quarter of an inch is taken off. and the rough edges filed away, it wBl be found that i&e horns 7 are comparatively harmless. It is said, that cows that >have had the tips of their horns removed in this manner lose Qjeir *festre, fir a great measure, for ripping and -'goring companions. But if this is not actually "so, the fact that they, cannqt do a great deal-of barm *is worth" a' : -gbod deal.