look no horns..........

 When your first calf arrives, you will be so excited, the last thing on your mind will be wondering, is it carrying horns.

However, it is something you should bear in mind.   There are some breeders who are keen to retain them, and it is up to the individual breeder to make up their own mind on policy.

Dexters are charming creatures, but if I had to define their one fault, I would say it is their antagonism to one another.   They seldom use their horns on their owners, but can be really vicious with one another.   They can still fight and bully even with no horns, but the damage is limited.   If you are proposing to keep your animals always in a field, or individual pens and you are keen on the attraction of horns, it is possible to retain them, but if you want to confine them altogether, the wisest thing is to have them off, shortly after birth.

How do you know whether the calf is naturally polled – or has buds, which will grow into horns?   Quite a lot of Dexters are bred today to remain polled.   If the sire or dam of the calf is naturally polled the calf may have inherited it.   If both parents are polled, the chances are greater.   Trouble is, that a parent may be polled, but carry the gene for horns, and in that case, the calf has only a 50/50 chance of inheriting the poll.

Check your calf regularly to feel for little bumps, if you can feel them, where the horns would be, talk it over with your vet. I like to do them as soon as possible, but vets. have their own preference, usually the sooner, the neater the job.   A naturally polled calf will have one bump in the middle of the forehead.

The horn ‘buds’ can usually be felt shortly after birth, but I have heard of the odd case where it takes months.   It pays not to take it for granted too soon.   Once they are obvious, arrange a visit from your vet. or alternatively, somebody who is legally allowed to do the job.   They will inject with a local anaesthetic, and then burn them out.  Properly done, it is not a big job.   Although my vet. tells me, my horns are much bigger than those he has to deal with in other breeds.  Avoid doing them when the flies are bad, there is a short interval when it is healing, a few weeks after the operation, when flies can be attracted.

Another thing, which has come in from another breed, and you may come across, are scurs.   These grow in the same place as the horns, and looks like small loose horns, the bull calf only needs to inherit one such gene, and it will grow them, the female has to inherit two genes for them to be seen, they will not prove a problem, in any case.   They are inherited separately from horns, and are not related.   I have never seen them in my herd.

 It is only in the last half century that polled Dexters have been bred, at one time most cattle kept their horns.   The majority of commercial cattle today are either bred without, or disbudded.   Apart from hurting their fellow members, I find dehorned animals easier to work with, and even a really good-natured cow can injure you completely by accident, my advice would be to take them off.

 Beryl Rutherford