Ox horn care

[Rod]

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions about improving my oxen’s horn finish. They look dull and a little flaked compared to my Dexter horned cattle. Is their anything in the diet or any surface rubs I could use to brighten them up.

[Plowboy]

I used to show purebred Ayrshires when I was a kid. An old timer and friend I showed against would train a yoke of yearling heifers almost every year for exhibition purposes at the fairs he attended. He used to shine their horns up with fine grit sandpaper when they started getting dull and flaky.

[Rob FLory]

Hi,
After you sand them(or use scouring pad), a bit of lard rubbed in on a cloth makes them shine beautifully.

Do they have dandruff around the poll? I think sometimes flaky horns is associated with the dandruff and worming them with Ivermectin may clean that up. In addition to internal parasites, Ivermectin kills the mites that cause some of that dandruff.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Baystatetom]

Ha!
I knew I read this somewhere!

[dominiquer60]

Good to bring this back up, I have been dealing with some bad dandruff and was thinking it may be time to bring another fecal sample to the vet to see what I need to combat this time of year. I don’t like having to use dewormer, but at least with the fecal I know what I am up against. I’ll see what they say about the mites and dandruff, they are the largest cattle practice in NY east of the Hudson in the heart of dairy country, if it is out there they may have dealt with it before.

[Tim Harrigan]

I use Ivermectin on my cattle and I have been pleased with the results. It controls intestinal parasites and also most of the external ones like lice etc. I think it is the scratching and rubbing of the poll on things that causes the severe flaking of the horns, they are just responding to the itching from the pests. Timing can be an issue with certain pests so for young cattle I would do it at Thanksgiving and then again in the spring just before starting to turn them out to pasture. I don’t fuss over their horns much, but I will occasionally use a quarter round file to smooth the roughest parts including any flaking that might occur. Both Will and Abe have lost horns over the years from various things and I have cleaned them up first by light filing, then by sanding with a medium sand paper, then fine sand paper then steel wool. Then I used car wax to shine them up. They look really good, I wish they were still on their head.

[dominiquer60]

After using the Ivermectin the dandruff got worse. A friend recommended a 1:2 vinegar to water ratio in a spray bottle, and if that didn’t work to use some kind of powder. Happy to report that the dandruff is almost all gone now and I only had to use vinegar.

Fecal showed all sorts of wildlife in their guts again. Ivermectin followed by a couple rounds of safeguard, while using Corid for a while was the docs orders. They are growing nicely again, even my slow steer is getting to the point that I may cut back on the feed a little.

[Vicki]

I learned from Howie to gently scrape flakey or yellowed dull horns with a piece of broken glass from head outward. You don’t want to take off too much shell. Use medium fine sandpaper after. Coat with olive oil, veg. oil or lard.

I usually scrub my oxen’s horns in summer weekly with shampoo on scrub brush, rinse well, coat with oil. I like to keep the stains off the white horns and I think they like the scrubbing at the base; keeps flakes and dandruff from building up. I keep the hair trimmed back in summer too.

[Baystatetom]

I am really starting to think the trouble with mine was all the wet weather. Day after day of rain softened them up then they beat them up rubbing trees and what not out in the pasture.

[dominiquer60]

The wet weather seems to have a direct correlation to the flakiness of my horns as well, it has been dry for a little while and they seem to have at least stayed the same instead of getting worse. I was using hoof dressing on mine but have cut back to using it every once in a while and only when dry, the combo of wet and hoof dressing seemed to make the horns even worse.

[Author]

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