DEHORNING, SPAYING, AND CASTRATING CATTLE 385 



the shed, yard, or paddock, it will certainly pay to de- 

 horn them before they are put on feed. They will not 

 harm each other when thus dehorned during the fatten- 

 ing process. They will feed more quietly. The strong 

 will not crowd the weak when taking food. The greater 

 quiet thus secured results in better gains. The animals 

 do not injure one another while being shipped for 

 slaughter. Those who slaughter them have the assur- 

 ance that bruises not apparent to the eye, the result of 

 goring, will not be present in the carcass. The dehorn- 

 ing of animals prior to feeding, when they have been 

 grown on the open range, is no easy task, but it is one 

 that should not be neglected. 



When cattle should not be dehorned. — It is not 

 necessary to dehorn any class of cattle when they are to 

 be slaughtered at an early age, as during the first months 

 of life the horns which they possess do no serious harm. 

 The age limit for the retention of horns by these has 

 been fixed above at one year or not much beyond that 

 age. 



Usually pure-bred cattle should not be dehorned, 

 for the reason, first, that value is attached to the horns 

 because of what they indicate with reference to the bony 

 framework; second, because considerable stress is laid 

 upon the correct style of horn, and, third, because the 

 head of a dehorned animal is less attractive than the 

 same with the horns on, and is less shapely than that of a 

 cattle beast naturally hornless. 



The size of the horn is, to some extent, an indicator 

 of the relative amount of bone in the carcass. The 

 texture of the bone in the horn is, to some extent, an 

 indication of the character of the bone in the frame. 

 Horns overstrong would indicate too much bone and 

 those unduly small too little of the same for the main- 

 tenance of size. Horns coarse in texture would indicate 

 coarseness rather than quality in the bone of the body, 



