When you dehorn calves you need to do it early. We like to do them at 2-3 days old or when the horn button can be barely felt and seen. The younger the better for you and the calf!

Supplies you will need;

Tetanus Antitoxin

Dr, Larson’s dehorning paste {available at www.pbsanimalhealth.com } or phone 1-800-321-0235.

Electric clippers

Vaseline in a squeeze tube

Rescue Remedy in a spray bottle available at your local health food store

Duct tape

Round gauge pads

Plastic gloves for your hands. Very important wear plastic gloves to avoid getting any dehorning paste on your self!

Vinegar

Aloe Vera leaf or an all-natural Aloe Vera burn lotion

A secure way to hold the calf and keep it’s head still. Extremely important!!

Get everything all ready “before” you catch your calf.

After catching your calf spray 2 pumps of Rescue Remedy into its mouth. This is an all-natural relaxant that won’t harm your calf.  If needed you can spray yourself some. J

Give your calf the tetanus antitoxin shot SQ.

Use your electric clippers and clip the hair around each horn button. You want to be able to clearly see the horn button and you also want a smooth hair free area to apply the dehorning paste.

Put your plastic gloves on.

Take the end cap off the Dr. Larson’s dehorning paste. Gently use the end of the paste tube to roughen the area over the horn buttons. But DO NOT DRAW BLOOD!!!

Squeeze a ring of Vaseline around each horn button so that it will “hold” the dehorning paste in place.

Turn the measuring ring on the dehorning paste ¼ turn and very carefully plunge the plunger putting the premeasured correct amount of dehorning paste on the horn button. Repeat for the second horn button.

NOTE- only turn the measuring ring ¼ turn for each horn button, you don’t want to over dose the dehorning paste!! Please note this! I take a black marker pen and mark on the measuring ring at each ¼ turn to make sure I don’t go past ¼ turn.

Tear off a piece of duct tape long enough to completely go over the gauge pads, around the head ending up under the chin. Like a headband. You want it snug but not tight! DO NOT PULL IT DOWN TIGHT ON THE HEAD!

Now tear off 2 more pieces of duct tape these are shorter pieces. You gently place one over the area of duct tape on top of the head next to the ear; take it behind the ear under the side of the head to tape to the other duct tape under the neck.

Do this to each side. This prevents the calf from pulling the duct tape forward with it’s foot and getting the dehorning paste in it’s eyes which will lead to blindness.

If you follow these directions and are careful this won’t happen.

Now take your calf and put it in a pen so that it can see it’s dam but yet the dam can’t be with it nor can the calf in any way stick it’s head out to it’s dam. Very important step to make sure the cow can’t reach into the pen to get to the calf, as she will try to take the duct tape off resulting in pulling the dehorning paste possibly into the eyes!!

Now wait 6 hours.

After 6 hours, get the calf and restrain it securely. Put your plastic gloves on! Very carefully cut the duct tape and gently remove it being very careful to not cause the dehorning paste to slide/move.

After removing the duct tape and gauge pads, squirt a little vinegar onto a gauge pad and very gently remove the dehorning paste with this gauge. Don’ t let the paste nor the vinegar get into the eyes. The vinegar will neutralize the dehorning paste. DON’T rub just gently remove the paste!

Put some Aloe Vera leaf juice on each horn button this will immediately take away any pain and cause healing to occur fast. Turn your calf back with its dam.

The calf will hardly know it has been disbudded.

This method works very well for us. Yes you have to be careful and use a lot of caution but this method is much less painful than irons or scooping!

We only recommend Dr. Larson’s dehorning paste as it comes in a tube with a measuring ring. The other brands out here come in small containers leaving it up to you to get the right amount. Too risky!!!

Dr. Larson’s dehorning paste is the very best on the market in our opinion.

This method works in our operation but as with anything the reader must decide if this is right for their operation and use this at their own risk. We aren’t responsible for what a reader may or may do with this article!!     

Many times I hear stories of fertility problems, I ask one question. What kind of grass is in your pasture? Nine out of ten times I get the answer, “fescue”.  To which I tell them then that’s your problem not the animal.

Yes you read right “fescue” that wonderful lives forever grass that more than likely your county agent told you to plant. Or Grandpa couldn’t brag enough about.

It is true fescue grass never dies and holds a waterway like glue. But lets look beyond that.

Fescue has endophytes in it. They are concentrated in the crowns and seed heads.

Endophyte is a toxin that affects, cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.

Endophytes cause:

1-     Poor weight gain

2-     Silent heat cycles

3-     No heat cycles at all

4-     An animal will breed but the breeding will not take

5-     Abortions early or late in pregnancy

6-     Still born babies

7-     Babies born very weak and will die shortly after birth or within 2 weeks of being born

8-     Retained afterbirths

9-     Little or no milk production

10-  Depletes Vitamin E, B vitamins, selenium, and copper from their bodies, having these vitamins depleted then causes problems associated with being short on these vitamins and what these vitamins does to keep a healthy body.

11- Lameness

12-  An elevated body temperature

13-  Low sperm count in the males

Now if after reading all the problems it causes isn’t bad enough comes more bad news!

This grass is almost impossible to kill out! L It is just like the “Ever Ready” bunny it just keeps going and going! Even after a burn down letting it grow again and doing the second burn down it will still come back at the rate of at least 10%.

You will need to plant a more user- friendly grass really thick so that it will help keep the fescue smothered out.

Keep your pastures limed really good as fescue is like a weed it dislikes lime.

I’ve been told to mow the fescue clear down to the dirt right before a hard freeze and the hard freeze on those exposed roots will kill it. But I don’t know this for a fact. Worth a try though!

To help with the fescue always keep the seed heads mowed off, don’t let your animals graze the seed heads as remember the endophytes are concentrated in the seed heads. Also don’t let your animals eat your pasture down low as again in the root crown is where the endophytes are located.

This will help to keep down the effects of endophytes.

But for goodness sake when you choose a new pasture grass to plant don’t be fooled and buy the “new endophyte free” variety. As it will just pick up the endophytes from the infected grass that is left then you have a pasture right back where you started!

Also feeding a free choice Fescue Balancer mineral will help.

Feeding kelp to your livestock at the recommended rate will greatly reduce the effects of fescue endophytes.

The next time you’re having fertility issues or any of the other issues listed above don’t throw out the animal till you’ve taken a look at your pasture!

By Carolyn C. Peevler

A few years back we decided to put a release form at the bottom of our recites that buyers must read and sign before the purchase becomes final.

99.99% of our customers completely understand and even tell us of their own experiences with buyers.

For the extremely rare customer that resents signing a release form we know in our hearts these are the customers that have made having a release form necessary. These are the customers that have different ideas about livestock; they think they are buying a “product” instead of buying an animal and that we should guarantee it for life.

We raise our livestock extremely well here and their care is the best. We only sell well-cared for/healthy livestock.

But can we guarantee them, no way!!!

Let’s be reasonable here and think about it. We know the care our livestock receives here, once our livestock leaves our farm we have no control over how they are taken care of.

For the most part we have found our customers to be kind, loving, people who go the extra mile to make sure they meet an animal’s care. They work closely with their Vet to insure the livestock is on a good plan for their operation and area.  They completely understand they are buying a product of Mother Nature.

Then there are a few producers whom have really different ideas about raising livestock or worse no idea at all how to raise livestock!

We all have the freedom to choose a path of operation in raising livestock.

And that’s great but please take responsibility for the path you choose. Be aware that the path you choose may have pitfalls. And as with any path traveled things can go wrong, that’s just life!  

Sometimes people buy livestock and don’t provide enough pasture, hay, feed, minerals, shelter, and in some cases even water.

After lack of adequate care they quickly end up with an animal with many problems. What do they do first? You guessed it they call us and in a heat tell us we sold them an unhealthy animal. 

If customers would first call a Vet and have the animal examined almost 100% of the time it will be something they need to correct in their own operation. Including taking a look at what is in their pastures that could be causing problems. When animals are having issues including not breeding, “there is a reason”! Problems just don’t happen without a cause! You just need to find out why and correct it!

Sometimes a producer can give the best of care and problems still happen, that is just part of raising livestock.

We at Mini Moo Farm are honest breeders selling sound healthy animals but we’re just not going to give out guarantees, as we just can’t control what happens “after” a sale.

Animals can even be injured on the trailer ride home due to various things, this isn’t our fault!

The animal was healthy and sound when it was loaded into your trailer.

Animals are a product of “Mother Nature” not formed on an assembly line coming with a stamped guarantee.

Thank you for reading and hope you can understand.

By Carolyn C. Peevler