Studies on dehorning steers in Alberta feedlots

Abstract

The study contained 507 crossbred steers from seven lots in five owner-operated feedlots. The objective was to determine the effects of dehorning (DH) at the feedlot on growth rate, compared to a control (CO) consisting of polled or previously dehorned steers. Significant (P < 0.01) treatment differences (DH = 1.11 ± 0.01 kg d −1 , CO = 1.16 ± 0.01 kg d −1 ) and treatment × lot interaction were observed for average daily gain from 0 to 106 d. Key words: Dehorning, steers, feedlot, gain