Bad time to dehorn?

[ssrdex]

Thinking about dehorning by banding a roughly 30 month old soon to be first time mom, due mid October. Too stressful right now?

[lakeportfarms]

I'd wait for a bit until the calf is a couple of months old, I think. But maybe Patti will chip in as she's had some experience with banding the horns at various ages.

[kansasdexters]

Joel,

I would wait until November-December to band her horns. It's best to do this procedure when the weather is cool and the cow is open. You can do the banding at about the same time as when you give her pre-breeding vaccinations. She should also receive a tetanus shot and a tetanus anti-toxin shot at the time of banding. The horns will fall off in about 6 to 8 weeks.

Patti

[ssrdex]

Thank you both. So I'm fine to wait, but was thinking of milking her. Should I put that off? I guess I need to read up on the meds.

[lakeportfarms]

I don't think you're doing anything with her that would require a milk withdrawal time, but check on that. Are you splitting milk with the calf?

Patti, our vet has been advising us to give a tetanus toxoid shot  2 weeks prior and then again at the banding. He says that although the one shot provides protection, the second shot increases the effectiveness. He's pretty conservative about things, but I thought I'd chip in with what he's been telling us. I would think that with the dehorning, that a second shot would come following the banding, but I'll ask him today since I'm taking a yearling bull for a health certificate and a bull calf to be banded.

[kansasdexters]

Hans,

The tetanus toxoid vaccination provides long-term protection against tetanus, but it takes about 2 weeks for the immune system to build immunity to a sufficient level. So your vet is recommending giving that shot 2 weeks prior to banding and then giving a booster vaccination at time of banding, using the same product.

To get the same level of protection, without having to bring the animal in through the chute twice, my vet recommended giving the tetanus anti-toxin shot (which provides immediate and short-term protection) and the tetanus toxoid vaccination (which provides long-term protection), at the time of banding. That way, we can get everything accomplished at one time.

If you're only doing a couple of calves, it's not a big deal to do it your way, and bring them in twice. But we're usually doing 10 to 15 animals at a time, so we prefer getting it done in one trip through the chute.

Patti

[ssrdex]

Hans
If things work out as I plan , I'll be sharing with the calf.
I think if I decide to dehorn her at all I'll do it mid November as suggested. The calf will be approx 1 month. I think the best thing to do would be to put off milking until after the banding, but I don't know how long to wait. I'm assuming not long at all. Thoughts would be very welcomed. She accepts all my handling of her teats and udder, and in perfect dexter fashion is very food motivated, so I think she'll take right to milking.