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Show Dehorning Cattle Is Favored for Feeders Bruises Detract Greatly From Appearance of Carcass. (Prepared by tho United States Department of Agriculture.) "Feeder cattle having horns do not feed out so' well as dehorned cattle," say W. H. Rlnck and V. V. Parr of the bureau of animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, In Farmers' Bulletin 1C00-F, Dehorning. Castrating, Branding nnd Making Beef Cattle, Just published for free distribution dis-tribution by the department. "Badly bruised carcasses," they go on to say, "are usually found In shipments of horned cattle. Bruises detract greatly from the appearance of the carcasses, thus lowering their sale value. Besides the damage done to meat, the hide is frequently damaged. dam-aged. Dehorned cattle usually bring from 25 to 75 cents a hundredweight more. than homed cattle of similar quality and condition." The authors also make recommendations recom-mendations as to castration, spaying, branding and earmarking of beef cattle. cat-tle. The bulletin also includes simple sim-ple plans for construction of dehorning dehorn-ing and branding chutes, including a chute with a movable side, known as a "squeeze," for holding the animal securely. On the range it is common to brnnd calves while still small enough to be handled by ropes, but the authors suggest sug-gest the advisability of constructing corrals with a chute adapted for working with yearling or older cattle, nnd a smaller chute for handling calves. Under such an arrangement it is possible to dehorn, castrate or spay, and brand the animals at a single operation. For dehormng, the authors mention the application of caustic to stop the growth of the horns on calves, and saws and dehorning clippers for more mature cattle. They mention precautions precau-tions for preventing Infestation of, wounds by screw worm flies. Farmers Bulletin 1G00-F is a revision re-vision and expansion of, and supersedes super-sedes Farmers' Bulletin 9-19. It is written In simple and condensed style, and Illustrated. It may be obtained ob-tained free on application to the United States Department of Agriculture, Agri-culture, Washington, D. C. |