Dehorning is one of the most common painful procedures in cattle farming; effective pain management protocols significantly improve welfare outcomes.
Disbudding and dehorning cause significant acute pain evidenced by vocalizations, head shaking, and physiological stress responses. Without pain management, calves show elevated cortisol and behavioral changes for more than a day post-procedure. The cornual nerve block is a highly effective analgesic when administered correctly, yet adoption rates remain low in many countries due to time and cost constraints. Transitioning to polled genetics represents the only approach that eliminates the welfare problem entirely rather than mitigating it.