Author Topic: Lambs horn growth (Read 948 times)

Barrie · « **on:** July 19, 2023, 02:19:36 pm »

I hav a ram lamb that broke its horn but it is still attached so I left it alone as it didn't stop it feeding or playing with the other lambs. I've noticed that another horn is now growing from the same root and seems to be pushing the broken one of forward. Would you sugested I cut the broken one off.?

shep53 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2023, 06:36:33 pm »

Sorry no one wanted to give you an answer but without seeing the damage its hard to comment

Barrie · « **Reply #2 on:** July 22, 2023, 02:20:49 pm »

Thanks if I can figure out how to do it I'll send a photo.
Barrie Smith

Barrie · « **Reply #3 on:** July 22, 2023, 02:35:04 pm »

Sorry I wasn't thinking hopefully I've attached a photo. It looks a bit nasty but it doesn't seem to bother him at all

Fleecewife · « **Reply #4 on:** July 22, 2023, 02:39:39 pm »

[member=210893]Barrie[/member] When a horn breaks, unless it's come right off from the skull plate which is a vet job, the horn itself will continue to grow, rather than another one growing from the same base.
You can trim a horn as long as it does not go through the artery that runs down the horn. To test, hold the horn and feel where the hot part ends and the cold part begins.
Horns carry nerves in the core as well as major blood vessels. If you can remove the broken bit with something like tin snips or side cutter pliers, without causing bleeding then go for it. Lambs' horns are usually too fragile to use a wire saw. If it's a more major injury and you're not sure, pop the lamb down to the vet (very much cheaper than a callout fee!) for skilled care.
Lambs tend to break or damage their horns on fencing and in the catching pen, so gentle handling is worth while. Mostly they knock the end off and that horn carries on growing and is just a bit smaller than it should be. I breed multihorned Hebrideans and a broken horn can totally ruin the appearance of the head, or it can be almost impossible to see after a year or two - it's just the luck of the draw.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #5 on:** July 22, 2023, 02:47:13 pm »

I've looked at the photo but it's either too small or way too enlarged for me to see it clearly. Has the whole horn broken off? Is it a clean break? Is it hanging on by wool or by part of the horn? If it's going to bleed from the torn artery when you try to cut it then don't - it would be a vet job. If it's actually separated and stopped bleeding then just keep the flies off and you have a one horned sheep.

Barrie · « **Reply #6 on:** July 22, 2023, 03:31:10 pm »

OK thanks. I think I'll leave well enough alone. Vet fees would be more than the worth of the lamb and he doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I think I probably over reacted. He's off with his mates to the abattoir in another month or so anyway. As long as the vet in the abattoir hasn't got anything to say about it then all is well. Thanks again.

twizzel · « **Reply #7 on:** July 22, 2023, 06:25:54 pm »

I managed to click and see the photo. I’m not sure to be honest like you say it doesn’t look great. You could always send the photo to your vet and see what they think. Explain you want to send it off soon and see if they think it would be ok or if you need them to sort the horn out before it goes. Sometimes you have to get the vet out and most of the time it doesn’t cover the cost of the animal especially with sheep.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #8 on:** July 24, 2023, 01:58:06 pm »

My farmer friend had a lovely attitude to vets' bills.

If an animal needs veterinary care, then it gets it. He didn't agonise, just got the vet and accepted the bill as a cost against the flock, not the specific animal. Yes of course he'd discuss with the vet levels of treatment, in which conversation the value of the animal, breeding life left and so on, would be considered. But no animal would be left in need of veterinary attention.

Each year he would review all his costs and if the veterinary expenses line item was overlarge, dig into it and assess why. Often we could identify a factor we could address. For instance, one year, there was a particularly high incidence of vet callouts to assist lambings. We investigated further, and all the ewes of a particular breeding to one specific tup had had very large lambs. some of them too large to get birthed on their own. So we didn't use that tup on that type of ewe again, and also took more care selecting a tup for them, and made sure we didn't overfeed them pre-lambing. (Ie., they went onto the roughest grass and had no cake unless skinny.)

It's harder to do as a smallholder because our numbers are smaller, but I have the attitude I want to like myself and be able to sleep nights, so I do the same as he did, don't even think about the cost of the callout at the time (except insofar as I'll take the animal to the vet if it won't make it worse to do so), and make decisions about future breeds, pairings, systems and so on as a result of this and previous years' vet bills.

I don't have a rifle, so I don't have the option of shooting an animal I judge unlikely to recover, so I call the knacker for them and ask for humane destruction.

I'm not saying the OP is depriving this lamb of necessary veterinary care; I can't see the pic well enough to judge. But personally, I do hate to hear or see the phrase "vet fees would be more than the worth of the animal", because even if that person would never deprive an animal of necessary care, the use of the phrase as part of our parlance implies an acceptance of an attitude to veterinary costs that I deplore.

Fleecewife · « **Reply #9 on:** July 25, 2023, 06:12:59 pm »

Quote from: SallyintNorth on July 24, 2023, 01:58:06 pm

My farmer friend had a lovely attitude to vets' bills.

If an animal needs veterinary care, then it gets it. He didn't agonise, just got the vet and accepted the bill as a cost against the flock, not the specific animal. Yes of course he'd discuss with the vet levels of treatment, in which conversation the value of the animal, breeding life left and so on, would be considered. But no animal would be left in need of veterinary attention.

Each year he would review all his costs and if the veterinary expenses line item was overlarge, dig into it and assess why. Often we could identify a factor we could address. For instance, one year, there was a particularly high incidence of vet callouts to assist lambings. We investigated further, and all the ewes of a particular breeding to one specific tup had had very large lambs. some of them too large to get birthed on their own. So we didn't use that tup on that type of ewe again, and also took more care selecting a tup for them, and made sure we didn't overfeed them pre-lambing. (Ie., they went onto the roughest grass and had no cake unless skinny.)

It's harder to do as a smallholder because our numbers are smaller, but I have the attitude I want to like myself and be able to sleep nights, so I do the same as he did, don't even think about the cost of the callout at the time (except insofar as I'll take the animal to the vet if it won't make it worse to do so), and make decisions about future breeds, pairings, systems and so on as a result of this and previous years' vet bills.

I don't have a rifle, so I don't have the option of shooting an animal I judge unlikely to recover, so I call the knacker for them and ask for humane destruction.

I'm not saying the OP is depriving this lamb of necessary veterinary care; I can't see the pic well enough to judge. But personally, I do hate to hear or see the phrase "vet fees would be more than the worth of the animal", because even if that person would never deprive an animal of necessary care, the use of the phrase as part of our parlance implies an acceptance of an attitude to veterinary costs that I deplore.

Well said Sally, although in this instance I don't think there is a welfare issue.
I just wanted to add that your post made me wonder WHY people with livestock sometimes express this opinion. Could it be that among smallholders, some feel this is the 'farmerish' approach to take? That's a load of bunkum of course because few smallholders earn enough from their small flocks to ever be able to balance the books, and as you have shown, 'real farmers' have a far more pragmatic approach to the need for a vet. Most of the livestock farmers I know have more knowledge about animal health and how to deal with problems on-farm than most smallholders I know, which reduces vet bills straight away. I would hate to think that someone would delay taking an animal to the vet because they thought it was too minor a problem for a vet to be bothered with. New entries to smallholding who have no prior experience are well advised to budget a greater amount for vets fees for their first few years, until their knowledge increases.
This is a topic which needed an airing