Livestock Welfare INSIGHTS Issue 5 - Jan 04

The old exercise adage, ‘no pain, no gain’ certainly does not apply to livestock management practices— particularly dehorning. Dehorning causes considerable pain and trauma for the animal, which also translates into reduced productivity for the producer.

Dr. John Church, Livestock Welfare Unit Leader with Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Development (AAFRD) is the lead researcher in a project to determine the impact of bison dehorning from an economic and welfare perspective. “Removing horns may reduce the chance of injury or even death due to aggressive behaviour, but these benefits must be weighed against the risks associated with both restraint and surgery,” says Dr. Church.

The project addresses a number of issues that bison producers face when deciding whether to fully dehorn, remove just horn tips, or leave horns intact on their bison:

• What is the impact of dehorning on average daily gain, carcass weight and carcass characteristics?
• Is dehorning or tipping necessary, and if so, which method serves producer needs best while balancing issues of animal pain?
• What should be the recommended dehorning protocol for the bison industry?

Initial results show that lidocaine, an analgesic, reduces the pain and trauma of dehorning and tipping, ultimately minimizing weight loss due to these factors. Bison that did not receive lidocaine were significantly lighter (4% or 25 lbs) than bison that had pain management for dehorning or tipping. “The administration of local anesthetic has a marked effect on the body weight change over animals that are dehorned or tipped and not administered lidocaine,” says Dr. Church.

The finding that tipping caused similar pain to full dehorning is somewhat surprising. “Bison horns seem to be very sensitive,” says Dr. Church. However, he also notes more data needs to be collected to verify this conclusion.

Administering lidocaine is a relatively simple procedure, easily taught to producers by their veterinarian. The drug is inexpensive and widely available without prescription through vet clinics and farm supply stores. Some believe that the stress of holding animals in a squeeze chute to administer lidocaine is worse than quickly cutting off the horns without analgesics. Dr. Church says, “Clearly that is not what we are seeing with the research.”

This project is supported by Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch, AAFRD’s New Initiatives Fund, AFAC and Morand Industries.