Economics of Dehorning in relation to Bruising Results from the June 1996 Canadian Beef Audit emphasize the importance of dehorning in respect to the quality assurance and economics. Horns can create indirect costs associated with bruising and head condemnations. It is believed that by dehorning cattle we can decrease the amount of bruises on carcasses. Figure three indicates locations of common bruises and the percentages of occurances Common Bruising Locations Figure 3. Many researchers have conducted trials to identify the procedures which cause the least amount of discomfort and set back to the animal.
All Calves are to be dehorned in an effective, humane manner prior to three months of age.
This supports the knowledge that the younger the animal at the time of the procedure the more expedient the healing process. No one procedure has been deemed to cause the least amount of discomfort and set back to the animal. Dehorning our cattle through genetic selection for polled animals is a welfare friendly practice which many producers are moving towards. Horns are inherited as a recessive gene, while polledness is dominant. In one breeding season, a producer can take a herd of horned cows and breed them to a polled bull and have an entire polled calf crop.