[TheCaptain]

Went out this morning to check on the flock and have found one of my ewe lambs covered in blood with one of her horns missing.  Quite distressing, I've cleaned her up and blue sprayed it and will get a pain killer injection from the vet.  Anyone expereinced this before??  What kind of force would be required to do this?  Could hse have done it herself if she had got her head stuck somewhere???  I've had a good look but can't find where she's gone and done it.

    

[ellisr]

sounds a bit nasty. Good luck getting her cleaned up etc.
I don't have sheep with horns but I can only imagine the force needed to snap one off.

[Moleskins]

My limited experience of horned sheep is that it doesn't take much force at all to pull a horn off.
When helping a farmer friend gather some in one did it without problem on a fence, leaving the horn
dangling half on and half off. Dramatic but the sheep didn't seem over bothered and neither
did my friend as he had no doubt seen it all before.
They do say that if you have horned sheep you shouldn't think of the horns as handles as they
do pull off.

[Anke]

Yes she could have had a bash up with one of her mates or got stuck in the fence. Have you found the horn? Lots of purple spary and washing the wound with Savlon to keep it clean. Is she due to lamb/has lambed recently? Should be healed by the time the flies are out.

I find that my shetland wethers loose their bits of horn quite regularly, as they are castrated these seem quite soft. Alos when they are grwoing they seem to be going through a phase where they knock them off easily, even the entire ones. I have had to bring one to the vets last June, he had mostly pulled one horn off ,a lot of bleeding about and I didn't have the kit to cut through the left-on bit. Also it was fly season... But my adult tup is fine with his - and yes I use them as a handle. My girls are not horned though.

[TheCaptain]

She's only two months old so I think quite a critical time for her to be faced with quite a trauma.  Just makes me mad - there's always something!!!

[Fleecewife]

Lambs lose their horns very easily - one of the difficulties of producing show quality multi-horned sheep.  Usually at that age it is just the outer cover of the horn which comes off, leaving the living core exposed - good blood supply so bleeds profusely.  The core soon hardens up and the horn will continue to grow, although it will never be the same size as the pair.  If the whole thing has torn out of the skull, the immediate danger is excessive bleeding and you need to look for the small artery which will be pumping, and pinch that hard for at least 5 mins. After that there is a danger of infection to the brain, so vet treatment is advisable.  We have had only one which did that - he wore a pirates bandage for a while and lasted fine til 16 months then tasted great.  It is worth mentioning here that clean (ish) cobwebs work well as a base for clot formation.
Lamb horns are fragile and shouldn't be used as handles, and they are easily caught in fencing or bumped against other sheep either in play or fights.  Shearling horns, especially in multi-horned animals are still fairly delicate.  Ewes and all older sheep should never be caught by their horns, but mature tups with only two horns can be if necessary - however, the best way to restrain a sheep is with a hand under the chin and either your leg or other hand against the body.  Sheep have sensation in their horns and use them in a surprisingly tactile way, and do not like being dragged around by them.

[Anke]

Oh  I thought you were talking about an adult or hogget ewe. My shetland boys knock their horns off quite regularly when they are small.

One other thing to look out for in horned breeds is that horns can grow into the skin/skull/eyes. They just carry on growing, causing much misery and pain. If spotted early on you can keep on top of it by nipping the top off regularly or get the horn turned, but I am not sure these animals are good for breeding.

[AengusOg]

When working with blackface sheep, we always took hold of the horn and the accompanying ear. That way the horn doesn't come off in the hand.