Dehorning

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Under dehorning refers to the removal of horns or horn systems in horn-bearing animals such. B. cattle , sheep and goats , in livestock farming . Dehorning is mainly carried out in conventional animal husbandry of cattle . However, dehorning is also practiced in a few organic farms , but routine use is prohibited, individual cases are subject to approval.

Justifications

In modern husbandry methods for cattle, the animals are kept free-running in stalls ( loose stalls ). Since cattle keep a certain minimum distance from one another because of their horns, the animals need more space in loose stalls. Polled cattle keep less distance from each other, which means the stalls can be kept smaller and costs lower.

Due to injuries to the horn (broken horn) it is sometimes necessary to remove the injured horn of the animal.

In individual animals it can happen in old age that the horn tips can grow into the skull . To prevent this, the horns are often sawed off here.

Another point mentioned is the allegedly increased number of fights for ranking in cattle herds, which are more widespread among horned cattle and are more violent than with hornless animals, which would represent an additional risk of injury. Scientific studies have shown, however, that the number of rank fights or disputes overall in herds of horned cows are less frequent or that the dehorned cows treated each other more brutally. However, the number of injuries caused by horns varied greatly from herd to herd when examined. Further studies with horned dairy cows showed that - even before the size of the loose stalls - the attention of the farmer or milker exerts the greatest influence on behavior within the herd: the more extensively the farmer devotes himself personally to the animals, the lower the aggressiveness potential of the cows .

history

Cows have been dehorned in Germany since the end of the Middle Ages at the latest. A police order from 1497 in the town of Altdorf , which was then under Nuremberg rule, stipulates this even if there is a threat of punishment: Item one should also dismiss the horns from the kuen, since one would not harm the other. And wherever pointed horns are found, you want to tighten them by 60 pounds from each kue .

Legal regulations

According to the German Animal Welfare Act (TierSchG), interventions on animals without anesthesia are not permitted. In contrast to this, calves up to the age of six weeks may be dehorned without anesthesia. The accident prevention regulation of the agricultural trade association "VSG 4.1 Animal Husbandry" requires in § 10 (16) that calves from cattle breeds, which pose an additional risk due to their horn formation and the type of animal husbandry, are to be treated against horn formation. The implementation instructions for this point describe that this additional risk, e.g. B. in the fattening bull keeping or keeping in loose stalls. This regulation is binding for all businesses insured by the Agricultural Trade Association .

In Austria, after the amendment to the 1st Animal Husbandry Ordinance came into force in October 2017, dehorning or destruction of the horn system is permitted if

  • the operation on calves under 6 weeks old is carried out by a competent person using sedation, local anesthesia and post-operative painkillers, or
  • the procedure is performed by a veterinarian using sedation, local anesthesia and post-operative painkillers.

Organic farms are also allowed to dehorn. The Demeter organic association prohibits dehorning.

Methods

One method is to use a branding iron to burn out the horn systems. At the same time, the resulting wound is cauterized by the hot branding iron , so bleeding is stopped and disinfected. Usually these wounds grow together relatively easily and heal quickly.

Another method is the etching pen . The horn system is etched with an caustic substance (such as sodium hydroxide ) and thus destroyed. This procedure is not as safe as burning out; the caustic liquid that runs down can damage the animals' skin or eyes. However, the approval for the etching pen has lapsed in Germany. The application is therefore no longer permitted.

In addition to these methods, which are only used with calves, it may also be necessary to dehorn already grown animals (horn damage, re-stabling in a group of dehorned cattle, etc.). The dehorning of older cattle, in which the development of the horns has already been completed, is done with a saw wire. While the destruction of the horns in calves is also carried out by the animal owners (farmers) themselves, the dehorning of older animals must be carried out by a veterinarian - the pain elimination to be carried out under German law (TierSchG) (in this case usually general sedation and local anesthesia of the Nerves supplying horns) may only be performed by veterinarians.

criticism

Dehorning is criticized for several reasons:

  • Dehorning without anesthesia is painful for cattle, including calves, and is therefore criticized by animal rights organizations . The Albert Schweitzer Foundation is calling for a ban on dehorning without anesthetics, since this practice is one of the most painful interventions in animals used for agriculture. However, even with properly performed anesthesia and pain elimination, an increased sensitivity to pain around the sclerosed horn attachments can remain permanently. According to Demeter, wound healing disorders often occur after dehorning.
  • Dehorning may affect the animals' social behavior, as the horns would be used by the cows for showing off.
  • The limitation of the cow in regulating its heat balance may also speak against dehorning. The influence of the horn size on the heat balance has been suspected for some time. Here one observes an increase in the length and circumference of the horns as a function of temperature; the hotter the climate, the larger the frontal bones / horns of the ruminants. This can be seen particularly well in antelope and cattle breeds in Africa and Asia. If also applicable to cows, the horn also plays a decisive role in the wellbeing of grazing cows in summer.
  • The opinion that the horns support digestion and are important for the metabolism of the animals is represented by the Demeter organic farming association . When the cows chew the cud, gases would get through the frontal sinuses to the horn cones; the temperature of the cow horns increases noticeably when they chew the cud.
  • Demeter claims that the milk from dehorned cows has a different composition and, under certain circumstances, is less tolerable. According to Demeter, this is due to the aforementioned role of the horns in the digestion of cows. For example, the milk of horned cows - allegedly according to "imaging studies" - is said to contain fewer allergens , which is particularly important for people with milk allergies and is more tolerable for people with lactose intolerance ; However, neither has been scientifically proven (as of 9/2016).
  • Initial studies of the meat quality showed that horned bulls contained a higher proportion of proteins that protect the cells from stress reactions. Stress, in turn, causes a breakdown of glycogen, which can lead to over-acidification of the meat.
  • According to Demeter, the quality of cow manure is also falling for the reasons mentioned above. In addition, “respect for the integrity of the animal” prohibits dehorning.

As a matter of principle, dehorning is prohibited in Neuland except for Demeter . The organic association Gäa as well as some other associations and brands ( Bioland , Naturland , Biokreis, etc., partly also own brands of supermarkets) only allow them in individual cases and only after express approval (as of 2015), which, however, is used differently.

Alternatives

As an alternative to dehorning, on the one hand, keeping cows with horns, on the other hand, efforts to produce hornless cattle through breeding or genetic modification. In some organic farms, too, interest in breeding for polled status is growing.

In order to introduce polled cattle into proven dairy cattle breeds such as Holstein , very complex breeding programs are necessary in order to obtain the desired characteristics for a good milk production in the polled offspring.

As an alternative, dehorning by genome editing was successfully carried out on Holstein cattle for the first time in 2016 .

Demeter rejects the breeding for polled. It is a much bigger intervention in the ecosystem than dehorning, says Christoph Metz, Demeter consultant in southern Bavaria. Contrary to the guidelines, Demeter still has companies that keep genetically polled cattle.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dehorning of calves in organic farming
  2. ^ Graf, B .: Activities of dehorned and non-dehorned dairy cows on pasture . ETH Zurich, Zurich 1974.
  3. ↑ Menke, C., Waiblinger, S., Fölsch, DW, Wiepkema, PR: Social behavior and injuries of horned cows in loose housing systems . Animal Welfare 8, pp. 36-39, 2016.
  4. ↑ Social behavior and injuries of horned cows in loose housing systems Menke, C., Waiblinger, S., Fölsch, DW, Wiepkema, PR (Animal Welfare, August 1999), accessed November 23, 2018
  5. ↑ a b Christian Bernhart: Let the cows the horns. In: Natur 6/2019, p. 46 ff.
  6. ↑ Hans Recknagel (with Erika Recknagel): Chronicle of houses in the old town of Altdorf . Altnürnberger Landschaft eV, Neuhaus 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-027611-8 , p. 269 .
  7. ↑ Entire legal regulation 1. Animal Husbandry Ordinance, legal information system of the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria, accessed on July 26, 2017
  8. ↑ Demeter cows have horns, Demeter eV, accessed on July 26, 2017
  9. ↑ Dairy cows. Avoidability and demands. Albert Schweitzer Foundation for Our Environment, accessed on December 8, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Consequences of dehorning can extend beyond the acute phase. In: unibe.ch . Retrieved December 7, 2018 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e Demeter does not dehorn cattle. topagrar online, July 30, 2013, accessed December 21, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Demeter does not dehorn cattle. topagrar online, July 30, 2013, accessed December 21, 2014 .
  13. ↑ Baars, Ton : SHorns and thermoregulation - conclusions from horn shapes and thermal images . Lebendige Erde 3/2016, pp. 243-258, 1999.
  14. ↑ medicine-transparent.at (21.9.2016). What does the horn do with the milk?
  15. ↑ http://www.kuhplusdu.de/files/Milchratgeber_Welttierschutzgesellschaft-eV.pdf Milchratgeber der Welttierschutzgesellschaft eV, accessed in January 2015
  16. ^ Andreas Fasel: polled cattle . April 29, 2012 ( welt.de [accessed May 8, 2019]).
  17. ↑ CVA (January 11, 2013). The cow without a horn . Uni.de
  18. ↑ Maurin Jost: Organic Association bypasses its own guidelines: horn requirement for cattle softened. In: taz.de . July 15, 2019, accessed July 21, 2019 .