A comparison of production traits and welfare implications between horned and polled beef bulls

A comparison of reproductive and growth traits of horned and polled cattle in three synthetic beef lines

“…Yet some cattle are dehorned late in life and others are slaughtered with their horns on. Although data from the present study, and evidence from other studies in the literature suggest that phenotypic differences in traits associated with reproduction, growth and the carcass, between horned and polled cattle are small and of little significance (Frisch et al 1980;Lange et al 1990;Stookey and Goonewardene 1996), there has been a tendency on the part of pure-bred breeders' to keep horned and polled populations separate (Koots and Crow 1989). The only strong negative attribute to using polled bulls arises from an implied effect of reduced fertility due to the frequent occurrence of a spirally deviated penis among polled Herefords (Blockey and Taylor 1984).…”

“…Despite some evidence in the literature suggesting that there is little or no difference between horned and polled genotypes of some cattle breeds (Frisch et al 1980;Lange 1989;Stookey and Goonewardene 1996), horned and polled cattle breeders tend to breed within horn status groups. Blockey and Taylor (1984) reported reduced fertility among polled Hereford bulls due to a genetic, premature spiral deviation of the penis, which may discourage the use of polled Hereford bulls in some circumstances.…”

A study of growth and carcass traits in dehorned and polled composite bulls

“…The average fat over the rib-eye measured from the four quadrants was higher (P < 0.02) in PP compared with DH bulls. A higher back fat thickness in polled Charolais bulls compared with horned has been reported by Stookey and Goonewardene (1996).…”

“…Research data from Frisch et al (1980), Lange et al (1990), Stookey and Goonewardene (1996) and Goonewardene et al (1999), and this study suggest that the phenotypic differences influencing production traits between genetically horned and polled cattle are small and insignificant. As such, breeding for polledness can be recommended as a non-invasive means of progressively eliminating the need to dehorn feeder-slaughter cattle.…”

“…The phenotypic similarities, however, in traits associated with reproduction, fitness, growth and carcass need to be established between horned and polled cattle before breeding for polledness can be recommended. In earlier studies we showed that horned and polled cattle were similar for growth and reproductive traits (Stookey and Goonewardene 1996;Goonewardene et al 1999), but little information is available on carcass traits. The objective of this study was to compare the growth and carcass traits of genetically horned and polled beef bulls from three composite (synthetic) breed groups.…”