458 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



of union of the skin and horn varies in different cattle ; hence there 

 can be no rule of measurement, except as the eye becomes trained to 

 see the point or line at which the cut should be made. In the beef 

 breeds fully one-half inch of skin, all around, is usually taken off 

 with the horn. 



INSTRUMENTS FOR DEHORNING. 



In recent years, since dehorning shears or clippers have come 

 into use, this means of dehorning is considered by some cattle own- 

 ers to be preferable, especially where large numbers of cattle are to 

 be dehorned. One type of dehorner has a stationary knife blade, with 

 its cutting edge shaped like a very wide V, and opposing this another 

 knife of similar shape, moving in a slide, so that the cutting edges 

 cut the horn from all four sides at once, all the edges passing the 

 center at the same time. Another type has a movable knife' with 

 one oblique or one curved edge, and the cutting is done in one direc- 

 tion only. The power for cutting with these instruments is supplied 

 by pulling together two long handles, which, in order to transmit 

 a greater force, are generally so constructed that they act through the 

 medium of a series of cogs. 



In dehorning with these instruments the opening between the 

 cutting edges should be slipped down over the horn and the knives 

 closed so that their edges set firmly against the horn in such a posi- 

 tion that the cut will be made in the right place and in the right 

 direction. The blades should be kept covered with a thick oil or 

 grease. The handles should be drawn together with a quick, firm, 

 strong pull, so that the horn will be completely severed by the first 

 act and without twisting. Care should be taken to keep the blades 

 sharpened on their original bevel. 



Dehorning instruments can be procured of the manufacturers 

 and of dealers -in veterinary instruments. In dairy districts ad- 

 jacent to large cities there are men who go about from farm to farm 

 dehorning animals, charging for their services in some instances as 

 little as 5 cents per horn or 10 cents per animal. 



There was published in the report of the New Zealand depart- 

 ment of agriculture for 1904 a description of the operation of de- 

 horning cattle by the government veterinarian at New Plymouth, 

 in which it was shown that a cage had been used for the restraint of 

 the animals during the operation, closely resembling the box used 

 for hoisting horses out of ships, this cage being hauled on a wagon 

 from farm to farm as needed. In discussing the various means for 

 the removal of the horns the report was very favorable to the use of 

 the saw in dehorning full-grown cattle. It was stated that in the 

 dehorning of over 10,000 cows with the saw there were no deaths 

 due to the operation, while in cows dehorned by shears there was 

 trouble afterwards in healing of the wounds, due, no doubt, to the 

 crushing, fracturing action which this instrument has upon old 

 horns, where ossification of the cores is advanced. Because of this 

 condition it was recommended that for mature animals a bone saw 

 be used. 



