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Sedating calves to dehorn them

  • 13-04-2022 8:34pm
    #1
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 3,571 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Just saw someone on Twitter saying how great this was and they’d never go back to regular dehorning.

    So, anyone on here get the vet to sedate and then dehorn calves?

    Sounds easier on man and beast but are there any downsides? Is it much more expensive for example? Or do they need to a certain age or weight?

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 374 ✭✭trg


    €10 each I think so it costs alright but sure your paying for the labour as well. As long as buds are there they can be done.

    We've done it 2 years now, great job. So much easier on the beast and, importantly, the man.



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,054 ✭✭✭bogman_bass


    You have to get the Vet to administer. If you inject yourself with chanazol it’s curtains



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 3,571 Mod ✭✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    Thanks for that. It’s a bit expensive alright compared to €2-3 for regular dehorning.

    They just wake up after an hour or two, is it?

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 3,571 Mod ✭✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    Yeah, I was assuming it was a vet job. Wouldn’t dream of trying it myself

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,550 ✭✭✭ginger22


    whats wrong with using polled bulls



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  • Registered Users Posts: 107 ✭✭James2022


    It only takes a few mins to do a calf that's a few days old, any decent calf crate holds them in place. Why would you need to sedate them?



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 3,571 Mod ✭✭✭✭Siamsa Sessions


    Re polled: I buy calves at the mart so don’t have an option to breed my own polled ones

    Re sedation: I just saw someone saying how great it was on Twitter so asked here if anyone had experience of it

    Trading as Sullivan’s Farm on YouTube



  • Registered Users Posts: 977 ✭✭✭einn32


    Did it one year. Definitely easier but over kill really for what you are doing.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,198 ✭✭✭Dunedin




  • Registered Users Posts: 655 ✭✭✭ABitofsense


    Isn't sedation overkill? What age & type of calves?

    Did a few today myself. All LMx sucklers range 1 week to 4 weeks. Any of the young 1-2 weeks old calves you'd struggle to find the bud so no point. 3-4 week calves no issue. All to do with setup, Condon crate & Gas buddex, done in a few seconds, leaving bud in, with very little stress or strain on the calves. All running around field this evening tails up.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,205 ✭✭✭kollegeknight


    I find the local anaesthetic of adrenocane a great job. No need for sedation and that’s beef limoX cattle



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,641 ✭✭✭✭patsy_mccabe


    Did you buy some recently? Can't get it here in Clare/Limerick area.

    'The Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Galway, As they sailed beneath the Swastika to Spain'



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,423 ✭✭✭JustJoe7240


    Any chance they mistook sedation and local anesthetic is a great job, Sedation would be complete overkill



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,205 ✭✭✭kollegeknight


    its actually Alfacaine 2% and adrenaline I got it. The label is in German or Dutch.

    perscribed by my local vet in West Clare. I can PM you their details if you like



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,164 ✭✭✭orm0nd


    Would that person be a vet by any chance?

    Didn't pay much need to the thread but I know some of the comments were from a vet



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,641 ✭✭✭✭patsy_mccabe


    Cheers, I'll ask about it, the next time I'm in.

    'The Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Galway, As they sailed beneath the Swastika to Spain'



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    Did it last year, calves had a scour so let them recover fully before dehorning so were strong. Vet in sedates and gives local and go around dehorning then. Super job and done in no time. Would have been all day using the crate



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,066 ✭✭✭✭Base price




  • Registered Users Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    Yes, had a share of early bull calves last year regular buyer had them taken early on



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,641 ✭✭✭✭patsy_mccabe


    I dehorned calves for a neighbour during the week. They were way too strong, to be honest, but he had just bought them a few days earlier. He gets them from the same guy every year and they do well for him. I had to take the top off the bud first before I could get down to the root to remove the bud completely. I did younger calves for him too but they were no bother in comparison. It should be compulsory to dehorn them before a certian age.

    'The Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Galway, As they sailed beneath the Swastika to Spain'



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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,157 ✭✭✭Good loser


    Bought 10 Her calves there a few weeks ago. 4 were polled. Pleasant surprise.



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,066 ✭✭✭✭Base price


    I've also noticed that some of the HEx calves that we bought in the last few years are polled. I kept on two heifers (a rwh and a bwh) to run with the bull this year.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,523 ✭✭✭White Clover


    Have had a few here for fattening over the last number of years. Do you find them lighter in the bone? Vet here says it's connected to being polled.



  • Registered Users Posts: 11,066 ✭✭✭✭Base price


    One of them is light boned but I put it down to the fact she is out of a FRx cow.



  • Registered Users Posts: 107 ✭✭James2022



    It's a hard thing to manage and a scheme would be tricky to implement but I do think there should be way more emphasis on dehorning at a young age when its no trouble for the animal. If not for safety then for animal welfare, skulling is a barbaric practice that should not exist in Ireland. Farmers willingly letting animals grow horns to skull them when they are much older should really be phased out.



  • Registered Users Posts: 197 ✭✭johnnyw20


    Dehorning calves is the most over complicated process on any farm.


    Just pen up your Calves tightly in a pen. Catch them and inject a couple of mils of adrenacaine into each side of the calf. Once your finished injecting them, start with the first calf and put into the crate and have the dehorner good and got and you’d get 20/30 calves easily done in an hour. Simple as that



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,205 ✭✭✭Gillespy


    It's one job you'd find any excuse not to start and then wonder what the fuss was about when you get into it.

    I've been noticing a number of 10th Generation Dairyfarmer's heifers on youtube have horns or little butts of things that might grow into their heads in time. He was using paste just holding them between his legs. Have to complete the job fully.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,198 ✭✭✭Dunedin


    we’d have had the odd one here over the years been done around a year old with the vet and krange and it was a job I hated. After the last one about ten years ago I said never again will that happen. It’s truly barbaric on man and beast.



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,641 ✭✭✭✭patsy_mccabe


    Try catching a month old limousin suckler. I've had them literally run up a wall. I mean literally with the calves 4 legs on the wall. 😀 last time doing the neighbours and a calf bolted and jumped from the crate knocking the crate and himself as he did. Neighbour who is young enough wanted to leave them till they were yearlings. He said it wasn't worth the hassle. I wasn't long correcting him.

    'The Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Galway, As they sailed beneath the Swastika to Spain'



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,198 ✭✭✭Dunedin


    Therein lies the problem. Should not be left a month. I’ve done limos as young as 2 days old.



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