You can also band the the horns if they aren't too big, tho I have been reading more and more people are banding much older cattle that have substantial horn growth--you just need bigger bands for them and probably will have to use duct tape to hold the bands in place.
The thing about the 'To dehorn or not dehorn' question, and the 'you can always take them off later if it's problematic" is that once something bad happens, it's too late, and that bad thing can happen dang quick. Once the buds start getting longer, it won't take him long to learn what those hookers are for, and at the very least, he will use them to get and keep any other animals out of the feed trough or hay rack.
I have only 2 horned cows now. They are gentle and have never given ME any trouble, but they get the best of the hay and more feed than any of the rest of my beefmasters.
Another problem is the horn sheath. If they get hung up in something by the horns, there is a very good possibility of the outer layer of that horn being pulled off, which will result in blood oozing out and attracting parasites. I had it happen to a bull I once owned. Eveidently, he pulled it off while scratching against an oak tree. I found blood on the tree trunk and for several weeks afterward, Every time he passed by there, he would paw the ground, snort and bellow, and you didn't want to be anywhere near him. He grew wheels when he injured his reproductive plumbing and when the 2 cows I have get replaced, they will be last horned ones I ever have. I use a polled bull to dehorn calves with now.
I really recommend you have him dehorned.
I have never used the paste, but back when we raised horned herefords, we dehorned lots of them the old way--with Keystone dehorners. Keystones are a bloody messy way to do it, and pretty painful to the animal, and our head gate ran red with blood. Most folks nowadays use the dehorn bands or a Barnes type tool. The Barnes tool cuts them off near the poll, but I have seen some real butcher jobs if ya get too deep with it--it kinda 'scoops' the horn out and some people get too far down into the sinus cavity.
If you can't do it yourself, get a vet to do it now while he's young. A vet will likely use ob saw wire or Barnes if the horns are small and lidocaine injections. (10% lido here requires a vet prescription) I've done both barnes and ob wire in the last few years--prefer the ob wire. (that saw wire is not as easy as it looks--your arms will get tired and the smell is unpleasant.)
There was at one time, a very good Farmer Kitty cattle dehorning tutorial here at BYH (maybe a sticky) but for some reason, the writer heavily redacted, edited it and I can no longer even find it. I think there were some complaints about it's very descriptive nature. Animal husbandry is often not very "emotionally digestable", but neccessary nonetheless.
Here's one on goats--might be applicable:
http://www.backyardherds.com/resources/horns-dis-bud-polled.31/
another on cattle:
http://calfology.com/library/wiki/dehorning-techniques-and-complications
