Woodmagic herd photos

[Cloverbell]

Here is a link to photos of the Woodmagic herd in England that were posted by Beryl Rutherford on the UK Dexter site.

Enjoy!

www.woodmagicphotos.co.uk/

[Cloverbell]

I doubt she got into the polled thing - what bull would she have used to bring it in? Doesn't she have a closed herd?

I seem to remember something about British cows being traditionally de-horned because they spend more time in barns, etc.

[anthony]

All of the imports have been "horned"critters and I am pretty sure her herd is horned.. LOike 99% sure. The wodmagic head, or cranworth head, always looked different to me. Wish I could explain it but I can't anymore to say that I know it when I see it, lol.

[lsg]

cloverbell, thanks for the wonderful photos. Yes, Beryl Rutherford does have a closed herd, unless she has changed her policy since her book was last published. Have you read her book, My Love Affair With Dexters? She ran a dairy herd by herself for years. Now she runs a suckling herd. I think she stated in her book that the reason she dehorned was because of the damage the dominant cows did with their horns.

[marion]

Beryl's herd is definitely 100% horned. Genebo, you would not see the large shiny healed area (as on a dehorned cow), on animals that were disbudded as calves. Disbudding only leaves a tiny area that is quickly covered by hair...marion

[Olga]

I can see how dehorning calves when they are young would allow for easier healing, but just F.Y.I. we had two very different results with adult dehorning.
We dehorned Maxine at about 5 years old and she healed up nicely. Her head is entirely hair-covered and I would have to search for the scrars to see if there are any. It may have had something to do with the fact that I took better care of her after dehorning. I found some very thin breathable material to put around her head that covered the sinus holes without preventing air flow - just kept dirt and large debris out, as well as big flies. As soon as I saw signs of possible sinus infection, I sprayed with Furall several days in a row, aiming right into the cavities. Or it has to do with a smaller radius of horn base.
We dehorned the bull at 3 years old and it was a long battle with maggots and cutting off dead tissues. It took him about 3 mo to heal and now he has scurrs and definitely no hair where the horns used to be.

One of the young calves that I dehorned, her wounds got a bit infected and I didn't catch it in time and the puss irritated the scin it ran on - "ate off" small part of the ear at its base. Thank goodness I noticed the situation and cleaned the wound and treated with Furall and put some fly repellent - and it healed up nicely, got covered by hair. You couldn't tell anything had happened unless you examine the ear closely and see that it's not all there.

Alto and Colton, the cross calves, were both dehorned early on and by the same person with same iron. Alto is healed up nicely, with hair and no sign of scarring, whereas Colton has huge bold areas on his head.

[marion]

Hi Olga, What I find amazing is the healing power of nature. Horns cut off with a base of three inches diameter, huge sinus holes. Just how does that oozing stuff and bone fill in and skin over??
The vet put a fly tag in each ear on the one I had to do this spring, and luckily there was no problem..marion

[marion]

Genebo, I've disbudded hundreds of goat kids and eight years worth of Dexters and never had a problem. The mature Dexter that was dehorned was fully anaesthetised, woke up hours later sans horns, and had no problems at all. The vet did a wonderful job and the head is very neat.
I have a harder time with ear tags, but in this case because the weather was getting warmer, the fly tags were essential. I feel that ear tags are disfiguring and a bother to the animal and don't tag mine until they leave home (New regulations require it)..marion