Dehorning and disbudding are among the most painful routine procedures in cattle farming. Improving pain management for these procedures is a key animal welfare priority in the beef and dairy sectors.
Dehorning and disbudding without adequate pain management cause severe and prolonged suffering. Studies using pain scoring, cortisol measurements, and behavioural observation confirm that cattle experience both acute pain during the procedure and chronic pain lasting 24-72 hours or more afterward. Despite this, many operations still perform dehorning without anaesthesia or post-procedural analgesia. Local anaesthetic blocks reduce acute pain but must be combined with NSAIDs like meloxicam to manage the inflammatory pain that persists after the anaesthetic wears off. Long-term, breeding for polled genetics — already advanced in some beef breeds — offers the most sustainable solution by eliminating the need for the procedure entirely.