Calf disbudding best practice

The only method of disbudding of calves that is legally permissible in Ireland is disbudding by thermal cauterization up to 28 days old.

It is illegal to disbud or dehorn calves over 14 days old without using a local anaesthetic. GI’s best practice recommendation is that local anaesthetic and an NSAID pain killer, obtained from your local vet, should be administered to all calves undergoing disbudding. Caustic dehorning paste must not be used.

When using a calf crate, make sure the calf is well restrained without causing distress or hampering the calf’s breathing. If a calf crate is not available, have a second person restrain the calf throughout the procedure.

Start by checking the calf does indeed have horn buds and decide whether the hair covering the horn bud needs to be trimmed back using scissors. Once you are satisfied this calf needs disbudding, proceed with injecting the local anaesthetic. The best place to inject anaesthetic is halfway between the horn bud and the corner of the eye. Feel for a bony ridge in this area and insert the needle up to its hub in the groove under this ridge. Inject up to 5ml of anaesthetic, then repeat on the other side. Before injecting any local anaesthetic always draw back slightly on the syringe plunger to ensure you are not injecting directly into a blood vessel by mistake.

After injecting the anaesthetic you need to wait 5 minutes for the anaesthetic to start working and fully desensitise the hornbuds. In a large group of calves it may be more practical to first restrain and anaesthetise 10 – 15 calves in turn, letting them go and catch the first calf again to start the disbudding. The anaesthetic will work for 90 minutes.

Always check that the horn bud is desensitised before applying the iron – poke a needle round the base of the horn bud. If the calf reacts then it needs more anaesthesia and/or more time. You must always check both sides as just because one horn is desensitised doesn’t mean the other is as well.

While waiting for the disbudding iron to properly heat up, or immediately after disbudding a calf, use a NSAID pain killer to provide prolonged pain relief to the calf. This will prevent a drop in appetite in the next 24 to 48 hours and avoid the associated growth check. Several products are available from your local vet that are easily injected in the muscle or under the skin of the calf.

Apply the hot disbudding iron in a smooth but determined manner over the horn bud with only gentle pressure. Let the heat do the work and burn the horn forming tissue around the horn bud. Slowly rotate or oscillate the tip of the debudder for about 30 seconds (certainly less than 1 minute) and eventually scoop out the horn bud if you wish to do so. This is not required for successful disbudding.

Once the horn bud is removed from both sides, apply a layer of aluminium spray to protect the disbudding site from flies.

For more information on calf husbandry procedures, check the Tirlán Dairy Calf Management Guidelines.
 

Published 17 January 2023