# Dehorning with castrating rings



## john in wa

has any one on here used them. i looked it up online and it looks simple to do. i have some older calves i would like to dehorn. about 8 months old. i think this may be the best way for me to get the job done. thanks


----------



## herfrds

I've hear from some people who have tried it and it worked great and others have said it doesn't.

Watched our vet try it and after shooting the 3rd ring into the bulls pen we gave up and cut and burned the horns.

How long are the horns?


----------



## john in wa

I would say the horns are a good 4"  I am going to give it a try and see how it works. i will put them on tomorrow and keep you all posted on how it works.


----------



## houndit

I did it with our goats one time because I hated burning them.  The first time it was cut right off, but then grew back.  The second time we made sure it was really low and then taped it in place with duct tape.  It took a long time.  I think it is actually harder on them than burning it because they are in pain longer.  He was afraid of the other goats touching him so he did not want to eat with them.  They did eventually some off and he was O.K. after that.  It worked fairly well.  I went back to just burning them.


----------



## john in wa

my results were flying rings. I could not for the life of me get them to stay in place at the base of the horn.


----------



## Calliopia

To get them to stay in place you need to file a notch at the base of the horn.


----------



## redtailgal

............


----------



## goodhors

I read the article on the Dexter discussion, written by John Potter.  I thought it covered things in great detail.  John has written several articles that are good information.  In the dehorning article, he specifies a certain kind of bander and bands, might be that they work better than other brands.

He also mentions clipping horn hair back as far as possible to get band back to the skull.

http://www.dextercattle.org/DexterArchive/Articles/banddehorningbyJohnPotter.pdf

He is quite professional in his approach to cattle management, with very nice Dexter cattle.  Everyone who speaks of him from personal experience, says nice things.

His article does make it sound pretty easy on the animal, though it takes some time to see the results.


----------



## helmstead

duh, this is cows...not goats... sorry!


----------



## alisajo

Just thought I'd put in my two cents.  My brother ropes corientes and longhorns over the summer and in the fall we feed them out.  After one year with those crazy horned cattle I told him we had to come up with something else.  What we now do is use our calicrate bander, it is difficult but mainly because of the size of their horns.  The trick for us was to pull them as close to the skull as possilble.  There is a small almost impossible to feel ridge at the base of the horn and if you get the band behind that it tends to work.  It is not a fool proof or blood free deal though.  Sometimes the bands come off and if the cow knocks the horn of a little early they will still bleed some.  All in all it works better than cutting those large horns and we have never had a horn grow back.


----------

