The How And Why Of Dehorning Cattle

Cattle are dehorned to keep them from hurting one another, to reduce the risk to workers, simplify transportation, free up trough space, and to give both dominant and subordinate animals an equal chance to feed.

- Andries Gouws

According to the Canadian Beef Quality Audit, the Canadian cattle industry loses millions of dollars annually due to carcass bruising – almost twice as much meat must be cut from the carcasses of cattle with horns than those without.

In Australia, losses due to carcass bruising amounts to approximately AU$30 million, or AU$4 per animal slaughtered per year. Research shows that most of the bruising is caused by horns.

There are several ways to dehorn cattle, but breeding polled cattle is the best in terms of animal welfare. There are at least five markers that can ensure a 90% heritability of the trait and producers can select sires that carry the polled gene to incorporate polled calves into their herds. This gene is dominant and needs to be present in only one parent. Polled genetics are more common in beef cattle than dairy breeds.