The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-04-14
OfH0RItO CATTLE
GIVEN PREFERENCE

otOCAmon OF TOW0er river county
with very few exceptions the past year
haze dehorned their cattle fer obvious
reasons. Experience has taught them
that dehorned critters are preferable
for marketing and personal handling.
Within the past year or two the stock
men have also discovered that better
money returns are secured by market
ing dehorned cattle as feeders instead
of beef stun.
Feeder cattle en- the market are de.
sirable and are especially In demand
when minus their horns. Commission
men at South Omaha and Chicago have
repeatedly advised stockmen Of this
country to dehorn their cattle for the
dehorned stuff sells easier and bring
better prices. Dehorned cattle whether
scld as feeders or as beef will bring
from So to Sc more a head than with
their unnecessary and troublesome
sharp.pOfnted horns.
The season for dehorning cattle is
during the forepart CT November and
the forepart Of March though exccp.
ttons to this rule are sometimes OBJ
served. In those months there 3 less
danger Of infection or blowing the
open sores by flies. Some stocxmen
in dehorning their cattle use disinfec-
tants on the sores. such as carboiic
acid solutions and tar but generally
the critter is turned loose to let ma
ture do the mending unassisted. \
sharp.toothed mitre saw is generally
used in the dehorning operation that
lasts but a few minutes. The crit er
Is lodged in a chute so that 1t has no
body movement and while one man
holds the head rigid, another man
with few strokes of the saw sewers
the hornf rom the head. To get the
best results the horns are sawed dcse
to the skin SO as to get the benefit
of the hCllowness and to prevent the
horn from again sprouting. When
sawed away from the hair the horn
probably would continue to grow.
either in crooked CIR straight direc.
tion. Sometimes dehorning Of cattle
is accomplished without chute by
hog -tieing the critter on the ground.
but this system Is not desirable where
any number of critters are tc. be treat
ed. 1t is said that three men are
Of dehorning one hundred
head Of cattle a day.
Advocates of cattle dehorning adj
vance strong arguneHts othor-tnan
fon the advantassstley gfstr on the
4 horned-steer fs difficult tc
handle in feeding hay for the strong
err ones always shove away the weak-
err ones. sometimes ripping them cpen
with their horns. Animals are dam
aged by their horns when they en@ag"
in fighting. Often when on the loal
to the railroad or in crowded stool:
cars the cattle hook each other that
causes abrasions and with such de,
fects observed when on the market
their value is discounted. Generally
twenty three four-year-old horned
steers are loaded to the railroad car.
while twenty-eight two and three-year
olds minus their horns are placed in
the same car. showing an advantage
of dchorned cattle in loading.
There remain some stockmen, how
ever, who still argue that dehcrning
Is improbable. In driving them en-
the road. cattle with their horns are
much easier to handle and make
quicker step. As the market price Is
at so much per pound the horns will
bring an additional revenue Of few
cents. approximately "a cents pair.
To offset this argument the other
stockmen insist that the nOurishE,ent
that goes into the horns is absorbed
in the body tissue Of the critter after
dehorning go that the weight remains.
invisible. And in driving the
cattle to market they contend that
the progress should be slow SO as not
to wear the critters out for with de-
horned cattle they always reach tine
railroad in better condition than the
or shOrthOrns.
While it is more desirable to de-
horn cattle as calves at the weaving
age. cows and steers have received
such operations when at a mature age.