Summer Dehorning Project Bethany Marcks 2015 Outagamie County Dairy/Livestock Summer Intern

Farm Visits Visited 46 farms Performed dehorning at 22 farms Trained a total of 50 people Dehorned a total of 179 calves

Caustic Paste Dr. Naylor’s or Dr. Larson’s Dehorning Paste Steps: Clip hair Apply paste Cover, if desired

Hot Iron Dehorning Butane Dehorner or Electric Dehorner Pain Management: Lidocaine Meloxicam Steps: Give pain meds Clip hair Hot iron dehorn

Polled Genetics Polled Bulls Homozygous: calves 100% polled Heterozygous: calves 50% polled List of Polled Placings was given to 39 farmers. Some farmers were already using polled genetics prior to visit

Survey Surveys were sent to 46 farms Feedback on dehorning visit Understanding of concepts before and after the visit Use of pain management before and after the visit Methods of dehorning before and after the visit Use of polled genetics before and after the visit Received 14 surveys back 12 had dehorning performed on the farm

Results of Survey Before Visit After Visit 1.88 3.5 2.11 3.86 2.25 Very High (4) High (3) Low (2) Very Low (1) My understanding of the: 1.88 Benefits of pain medication on minimizing stress responses when dehorning or disbudding calves 3.5 2.11 Importance of disbudding calves before 3 days of age 3.86 2.25 Availability of polled dairy genetics 3.13

Changes made Of the 14 farms 3 farms went from burning to paste 3 farms increased paste use 3 farms continued burning but burned at an earlier age 5 farms did not change methods 2 farms already using paste Two farms increased use in lidocaine and meloxicam One farm increased use in polled genetics

Comments from Farmers Calves don’t fight as much when given lidocaine The paste is a lot easier than I thought Burn the horns when they are smaller Polled bulls don’t have high enough type numbers

Recommendations Dehorn calves at an earlier age Work with your veterinarian on a dehorning protocol Use pain management on older calves Introduce polled genetics to the herd

Questions?