# Animal Welfare



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Times are rapidly changing.....especially for animal "rights"....so we need to keep a open mind in how the end consumer perceives farming/ranching. Some thoughts by end consumers are totally off base , but some have a lot of credence.....like de-horning....which can be a very painful endeavor. This article shows some of the consumer perceptions that we will be facing in the future.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/animal-welfare-through-the-looking-glass-NAA-wyatt-bechtel/


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

I started docking tails to get them ready to be leased out and wished I had started off docking when I was milking. Get hit by a wet tail and tell me if you like it or not. I think no tails helps with cleanliness. I could see non farmers disapproving of it.

I didn't use anything when I dehorned. Tied them up and burn them off. I wonder what people would think of the method used before burning. We used to wait until they were around 8-10 months and cut them off, and pull out the bleeding veins. That is a bloody mess.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

IH 1586 said:


> I didn't use anything when I dehorned. Tied them up and burn them off. I wonder what people would think of the method used before burning. We used to wait until they were around 8-10 months and cut them off, and pull out the bleeding veins. That is a bloody mess.


Yes, I also have de-horned by cutting off back in the Seventies and Eighties.....and I cannot help but hear the painful bawl of the animal....I would not do it again. It is real simple when working with stock....use common sense and do the right thing.

Regards, Mike


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I prefer to use polled bulls, so no horns. We have an electric dehorner to burn off the little nubs on calves that we used a little in the past when we had a few horns. I can remember Dad using some huge thing with about 3 foot handles to lop of horns on calves he bought back in the 80s. Now if we have a cow or something with horns that are big we use cable to saw the horns off and it seems to burn them as it cuts so very little bleeding.

I too remember how much fun it was to get smacked in the face with a Holsteins tail. Even worse was when they swung it just right to hit you in the nuts when you walked out.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

According to the TV ad ,All the Happy cows are in California, After all you got to have milk with your Fruits and nuts cereal .. Plus happy cows don't fling their pea green wet tails in your face.. LOL


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

we used dehorning paste on calveswithin the first couple of weeks. saves a lot of trouble.

we trimmed the tails, but never docked. flies would drive them nuts. with freestall barns and sand bedding, tails were pretty clean anyways. a messed tail was a sign of possile health issue.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

aawhite said:


> we used dehorning paste on calveswithin the first couple of weeks. saves a lot of trouble.
> 
> we trimmed the tails, but never docked. flies would drive them nuts. with freestall barns and sand bedding, tails were pretty clean anyways. a messed tail was a sign of possile health issue.





aawhite said:


> we trimmed the tails, but never docked. flies would drive them nuts. with freestall barns and sand bedding, tails were pretty clean anyways. a messed tail was a sign of possile health issue.


We always use Ever Clear, on our show heifer's tails give them a shot of that under their tail just below the tail head.. so you don't have to fight their tails when your fitting them for shows, it will kill the nerves for up to 3 or 4 mouths just have to be careful you can over do it and kill it for ever, makes it hard then for the bull to bred them.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Welcome to a society where animals are treated like people and people are treated like animals


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Oh and I like the comment at the end of the article


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