Removing scurs

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ty378

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What is the best way to remove scurs from a yearling bull did not have them until jan, he was even clipped out back than, but all of a sudden grew them
 

newguy

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A scur is usually soft and can be trimmed down with a side cutter or small hoof nippers. Should not draw any blood if not too big. Some are just scab scurs and some may look like a small horn. I have used some real good scissors too to trim them up.
 

firesweepranch

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Depends on why you want to remove them. We had a bull we showed last year (in my avatar), and he developed scurs around 8 months. We wanted him to look good, so vet suggested burning. We did, and later regretted it. His scurs were very small, and what we were left with was a large burn scar that looked like he had horns and was dehorned. We had to explain to people that asked that he was not horned, but scurred. Just our experience.
 

DLD

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newguy said:
A scur is usually soft and can be trimmed down with a side cutter or small hoof nippers. Should not draw any blood if not too big. Some are just scab scurs and some may look like a small horn. I have used some real good scissors too to trim them up.

Yep.  Since you say they've just appeared, I'm going to assume that it's just the little soft scur about the size of a fingernail?  We just pop those off with a pair of surgical scissors - like newguy says, it shouldn't even bleed much, if at all.
 

ty378

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They are not huge but noticeable, has anyone ever tried using a castrating band on them?
 

Freddy

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Ihad some on an older bull and they were loose like scurs but had a little size ...Some times I use SURGICAL CABLE  to dehorn with handles on it ....PUT CABLE DOWN LOW ON SCUR and started going back and forth ,you can produce smoke even doing this and it kinda
sears the cut , the scur did not have any blood going to it ....
 

GoWyo

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ty378 said:
They are not huge but noticeable, has anyone ever tried using a castrating band on them?

I have use castration bands (calf size) on yearlings with horns, so I would bet it would work fine on scurs.
 

RyanChandler

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I've dehorned every way possible and the Barnes dehorners will scoop the scur right out and it will grow back the cleanest.  Castration bands used for dehorning should be illegal. I've done it and its heinous. 
 

GoWyo

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-XBAR- said:
I've dehorned every way possible and the Barnes dehorners will scoop the scur right out and it will grow back the cleanest.  Castration bands used for dehorning should be illegal. I've done it and its heinous.

What is heinous about it?  They throw their head around for a few minutes after the band is applied until it goes numb and then it's over and falls off in about a week.
 

GoWyo

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Horns are best handled at branding, which we do at a couple months old and burn the horn buds, but if one sneaks by I have dehorned after they are weaned with a bander -- been a few years ago now.  Scurs aren't connected like a horn, so it would seem to be much less traumatic than horns.
 

RyanChandler

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Judge said:
I would also do the  abstracting band, they do them on extra teats and the cows never miss a beat, the Barnes dethroned would be way more "heinous" check out what the downfalls of it are on this site http://www.dehorning.com/dehorning-methods/barnes-or-gouger-dehorning/

Until it goes numb? You're lying to yourself.  Barnes dehorners are pretty invasive for dehorning.  We're talking about 'scooping' scurs that aren't attached.
 

Quigly

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The clinical research has shown band dehorning to be a rather painful procedure long past the day the band is applied. It has has a fairly negative impact on production also, not that Barnes dehorners are any pleasure cruise. Horns should be removed by a couple months of age, for producers that can't control them with bull selection. If we keep using bands and barnes on 7 and 8 weight calves the day will rapidly come when that isn't legal anymore.
 

RankeCattleCo

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-XBAR- said:
Judge said:
I would also do the  abstracting band, they do them on extra teats and the cows never miss a beat, the Barnes dethroned would be way more "heinous" check out what the downfalls of it are on this site http://www.dehorning.com/dehorning-methods/barnes-or-gouger-dehorning/

Until it goes numb? You're lying to yourself.  Barnes dehorners are pretty invasive for dehorning.  We're talking about 'scooping' scurs that aren't attached.

What's different about the horns than doing the ole nutties?
 

RyanChandler

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IDK Sheep, what I'm saying is that I've begun to question a lot of the practices that I've formerly done.  I've dehorned cows w/ Keystones that had horns as big around as a coke can.  Growing up- I was conditioned to think that was "just part of it" and to completely tune out the response you get from the cow when running a sawzall or even worse, and I've done it several times, a hacksaw down the side of her head. That's real life- and the pain we're inflicting is real.  I don't have the answers but I think we all need to do a better job of minimizing the situation the best we can when we engage in these invasive practices. 
 

frostback

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So when someone askes for a list of homozygous polled bulls you think you would help instead of stating that would be the lest of criteria to build from.
 

RyanChandler

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frostback said:
So when someone askes for a list of homozygous polled bulls you think you would help instead of stating that would be the lest of criteria to build from.

Within the shorthorn breed it is.  The Hereford breed, for example, has evolved to the point where there are equivalent both polled and horned bulls so there's not much justification for using a horned bull when there is a true, comparable substitute.  Even within the Charolais breed, polled genetics have become the more superior specimens.  This is not the case w/ Shorthorns as the gene pool is small, bulls like Bonanza have no comparable alternative and not until we've developed, again, comparable polled alternatives, should the direction be moved or selection protocols be put in place that put high importance on horn status. 

That being said, there are still many management practices that can and should be used when dealing w/ horned genetics.  I don't dehorn horned Shorthorn herd bulls as  A) I like the way it looks and B) I don't know of any economical reason for doing so.  Secondly, the horns on shorthorns, if not dehorned, naturally grow downward and, in my experience, the length of each horn doesn't cause the workability concerns cattle breeds w/ larger horns generally cause. 

Knowing that there are economical issues with horns on feedlot calves in tight confinement: puncture wounds, bruised muscles, temperament-  to avoid the invasiveness and obvious pain, calves could be dehorned when they're less than a month old and can be successful dehorned w/ paste or a scoop type dehorner as soon as you can feel the bud.  Any method you use that isn't prolonging like the bands or that doesn't cut into the frontal sinus like keystones will do, or even how barnes will do if you let em get big enough is preferred.  I've used a scoop like this below on calves that are from a few days old to a couple weeks old and many times it doesn't even bleed.  For scurs that will fit in the opening, acknowledging that removing them would be for aesthetic reasons only, you could use these will very little pain. 



 

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