Caring for a large herd of cattle is not easy. It can be especially difficult to deal with bulls – aggressive and dangerous animals. Watching a picture of a grazing herd, sometimes the question arises: why do bulls have a metal ring inserted into their nose? This is an ordinary phenomenon, not everyone around knows its meaning. Although it is assumed that in this way livestock breeders try to mark their animals.
Why do bulls have nose rings?
But the reason for a nose piercing is quite banal. Thanks to this accessory, livestock breeders subjugate bulls, force them to obey and perform the necessary actions.Wayward animals, especially those who have not been neutered, are often difficult to get into the stall or even just to examine. To suppress the resistance of the bull, the livestock breeder has to influence its pressure points (eyes, ears, nose). It is not difficult to make an animal obey even with a weak impact on these organs.
The easiest way to subdue a bull and force it to move in the desired direction is to lightly pull on the ring attached to the pierced nose. Scientifically, this accessory is called a septum (partition). The ring is passed through a puncture in the upper part of the septum between the nostrils. Usually the procedure is performed on bulls under one year of age.
Types of nose piercing
When raising cattle, breeders perform mainly two types of piercings: adult bulls and calves. Standard piercing of the nasal septum is performed on bulls at the age of 7.5-10 months. As an accessory, a stainless steel ring equipped with a special lock is used.
The purpose of the procedure is to wean calves suck udder. On the outside of the ring there are spikes that injure the cow's udder as soon as the calf tries to suckle. Naturally, the cow chases the calf away.
How they do it
Piercing the nasal septum is a minor operation, but it is recommended that it be performed by a veterinarian. Because the farmer, by piercing the tissue himself, can damage the nose of the bull. Mistakes or careless actions lead to inflammatory processes and tissue decay. Stages of the piercing procedure:
- The animal is tied in a pen, while trying to securely fix the head.
- To reduce the bull's motor activity, he is given an intravenous injection of Xelazin (0.5 ml is a sufficient dose).
- Use a cotton swab to remove mucus from the sinuses and inject anesthetic into the upper part of the nasal septum (you can use a 2% solution of novocaine).
- The septum is pierced with the disinfected tip of the ring, the ring is threaded through and it is snapped onto the lock.
- The piercing area is disinfected.
To relieve the pain effect after the anesthesia wears off, Meloxicam injections are given. After 10-13 hours, the anesthetic drug is reintroduced. As a rule, the animal is not disturbed for one and a half to two weeks after surgery. But you cannot miss the inflammatory process.
The bull is taught to follow the ring gradually. To remove the animal from the pen, the ring is hooked with a special hook.
Piercing an animal's nasal septum should not be considered an inhumane treatment, since without this accessory bulls are almost impossible to control. After all, violence and screaming will increase aggression and can lead to injury to surrounding animals and people.
