Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2011 6:06:30 GMT -5
I recently acquired a foster bull calf to help milk down my cow that just gave birth last week. He is a jersey/holstein cross, and is 6 days old today. He has the start of horn buds and I want to de-horn him. My first experience with de-horning was horrible. My 5 month old heifer calf had 3" horns and I had the vet do the de-horning. He gave her pain killer, and was kind and efficient, but still what a bloody mess. The calf's mother stood by the fence and was bent out of shape too as she watched the procedure and bawled for her baby. In addition, the heifer got an infection in her sinus from the procedure which took a month to completely resolve. The combination of the procedure and illness even seemed to change the temperment of this very sweet heifer. I could happily go a lifetime if I never had to go through that again. I also realize that the extent of the trauma was my fault because I should have de-horned her sooner or just left her with horns once they were already attached to her skull.
I'd like some input on using caustic paste or an electric de-budder on a 6-day old calf. Until I read several articles online I didn't know that using caustic paste is painful for the calf as well. (I thought it was like us using Nair, but human leg hair doesn't have a nerve and blood supply, so it makes sense to me now.) Does anyone have a suggestion as to pain meds to use if I use caustic paste? Any input for better results of paste vs. electric de-budder? I'd like to get this handled this week to avoid a bigger trauma later on.
It is possible that I may just let the little guy keep his horns. The first holstein steer I raised had horns and it wasn't all bad...he was a little hard on my water tanks but he also would let the calves scratch their chins on his horns when he was laying down and chewing his cud.
I'd like some input on using caustic paste or an electric de-budder on a 6-day old calf. Until I read several articles online I didn't know that using caustic paste is painful for the calf as well. (I thought it was like us using Nair, but human leg hair doesn't have a nerve and blood supply, so it makes sense to me now.) Does anyone have a suggestion as to pain meds to use if I use caustic paste? Any input for better results of paste vs. electric de-budder? I'd like to get this handled this week to avoid a bigger trauma later on.
It is possible that I may just let the little guy keep his horns. The first holstein steer I raised had horns and it wasn't all bad...he was a little hard on my water tanks but he also would let the calves scratch their chins on his horns when he was laying down and chewing his cud.