Dehorning and disbudding of cattle to prevent injury is one of the most common and most welfare-relevant procedures in beef and dairy farming. The welfare evidence for different methods informs best practice.
Disbudding and dehorning cause acute and prolonged pain that is substantially underestimated in routine farm practice. Research using cortisol, substance P and pain-scoring tools consistently demonstrates significant pain responses during and after the procedure. The legal requirement for local anaesthetic in the UK reduces but does not eliminate acute pain - sedation and systemic analgesia are additionally needed for optimal welfare. The failure to provide post-procedure analgesia despite evidence of 24-48 hour pain is a significant welfare gap in most commercial systems. Polled genetics offer a definitive solution that eliminates the need for painful dehorning entirely. Several breeds have polled variants with comparable production characteristics, and genetic selection programs are progressively increasing polled frequency in major commercial breeds.