Posted by Nat on May 20, 2001 at 10:16:20:
In Reply to: Re: Broken Horn posted by Deborah on May 20, 2001 at 08:41:14:
Depending on the size of the horn, I'd be worried about having a bleeder - There is a big artery located in the mature horn. I remember that one year at our 4-H fair, we had a working steer that got a horn ripped off. It bled like crazy. What the vet did is clamp the artery, pack the wound with antibiotics and gauze, and warp the hornbase and head up (to keep the bandage on). If its a big horn you're going to have the sinus cavity opened up and with fly season in full gear I'd hate to see that kind of wound get flystrike, or a severe infection.
If its just a scur that broke, I clean all the blood off the face and wound, add some blood stop powder if its a bit weepy. I also add a topical antibiotic to the wound if its a little ragged - like furaszone (sp) or any of the other products that a local feed dealer carries. Scurs are usually not too big a deal and look worse then they are when they get dislodged.
If his herdmates have horns also, he may have to be seperated until it heals well so he has a fighting chance to keep his place in the pecking order.
Just my 2 cents :-)
-Nat's little bit farm