GAAH!! Frosty is getting horns

[Azriel]

She is just over 8 months and I just started to be able to feel little horns. I never thought about it because she is half Angus, but dad was a Charolais. What are the chances they will become full size horns, or will they just stay little nothing horns. She is the lowest ranking in the herd, so I'm not to worried about her being mean with the horns, I just don't like them. I am going to be taking her and my other heifer to the vet within the month for their vacs, is it to late to have something done with the horns, or should I wait and see what they do.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Chances of those horns growing into little nothings are nil, trust me. Once the horn tissue establishes, the horn starts growing, and there's nothing you can do about it except to remove them.

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Lol, yep!! Horns are pretty stubborn!! If you don't want horns, it is never to early to deal with them!!

 

[jhm47]

Just how big are these horns? It' possible that they might be just scurs (hornlike growths that are not attached to he skull), and probably nothing to worry about. If the dam was a purebred Angus, i's impossible that her offspring could have horns. The polled gene is always dominant, however, a polled animal can produce horned calves if they possess the recessive horned gene and are mated to another animal that has the recessive horn gene.

 

[Azriel]

I dug through her hair to see just how big they were, and they are maybe a 1/4", and when I scratched on one of them parts of it flaked off. I can feel them if I rub her head, but really have to dig through the hair if I want to see them. I tried to feel if they were attached to her skull, but couldn't really tell, the left side maybe, the right side was more like built up skin cells and could be scratched off pretty easy.

 

[jhm47]

They're more than likely scurs. Real horns would probably be much bigger than 1/4" at 8 months.

 

[Debby]

I'm not terribly experienced, but my Devon Milking Cows have horns and the calves had horns that sound bigger than yours by the time they were two months old. There are pictures of them where you can see how fast they grew on the Devon Milking Cow thread. But IIRC, by the time the calves were eight or nine months old, the horns were at least six inches long. It doesn't sound like your cattle will have the full monty.

 

[greybeard]

Scurs are soft, malleable and you can move them around easily with your fingers.

IMO, it's never too late to dehorn--IF they are in fact horns.