Animals with weapons are an unknown side of farming that farmers learned to deal with but most consumers didn’t have to.
For decades, cattle were proudly shown and displayed at exhibitions, not only showing off their superior beauty and productivity but also their elegant horns.
Many breeds of cattle are born with horns which at birth are only a small button the size of a pea which can be felt just under the skin on each side of the skull at the top. As the calf grows so do the horns and they protrude above the skin when the calf is only a few weeks old. Both males and females are born with horns.
A few breeds of cattle are now polled and never have horns. Some of these breeds of cattle like Charolais and Angus have never had horns. Some breeds like Ayrshire and Hereford have been selectively bred to polled bulls and now most of the breed is polled. Some breeds like the Holstein are still trying to select the polled gene.
In the 1950s many horned breeds of cattle were not allowed to compete at fairs unless they still had their horns. After many cases of animals, owners, and even spectators being gored by the horns of an upset animal, the rules changed and by the 1960s most animals were dehorned. This was done either when the calf was only a week old or sometime before the age of two.
I have seen many farmer friends and relatives suffer broken ribs, broken jaws, bruises and concussions caused by being horned by an upset animal.
Before accepting to dehorn all their animals, some farmers who still wanted to show cattle with the horns still on shelled the horns every year. Once a year after all the exhibitions were over for the season, some farmers used a new pipe wrench with sharp jaws to screw the shell off the horns, leaving the rest of the horn attached. Just like a deer who loses their antlers, these shelled animals were a lot safer to work with because the shelled horn was quite tender and the animal would not use it to gouge or spear anything either man nor beast.
Today, many farmers use anesthetic before dehorning an animal to eliminate pain. Soon this use of freezing before dehorning will become law.
Baby pigs are born with all their teeth. The eye teeth usually turn into protruding tusks just like a wild boar. These tusks can be used like a weapon to gut or kill another pig or even a human. I can still remember my dad removing these eye teeth from each baby pig with a pair of pliers just like people get teeth pulled by a dentist. He didn’t use freezing for the pigs, but even today some dentists ask you if you want freezing or not.
Some animals like deer, llamas, goats and even horses use their front feet for defence or as weapons. Some can do serious damage with their front feet while others just use them to put the opponent on the ground and then trample them to death.
Most males, even bulls, rams and roosters become more aggressive as testosterone increases and they mature. Male animals that are grown for meat like beef, pork, chicken, lamb, goat, etc., are neutered unless they are superior genetically and selected to improve the herd. Once they are neutered they are much less aggressive to work around.
Many large animals also have very large, heavy, and boney heads that can be used as a weapon and break ribs or other bones, cause concussions and even kill!
Animals are very sensitive to smell and some female animals have a hierarchy and can be very aggressive with other females and even girls or women. We have had cows on our farm that attacked females who worked around them routinely. Because many of these aggressive traits are genetic, these animals can be sent for beef and their offspring are watched very closely for any aggressive behavior and might have to be sent for beef also. Even violent, unpredictable dogs cannot be allowed around farms where small children and visitors are commonplace.
In most countries farmers now do everything in their power to take the weapons away from animals but in some countries, humans with questionable character are still allowed to be fully armed!
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon
on land that has been in his
family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
