Polled livestock are livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

 without horns

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

, of species that normally have them. The term refers both to breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

s or strains which are naturally polled through selective breeding

Selective breeding

Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...

 and also to naturally horned animals which have been dehorned. Natural polling occurs in cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

, yak

Yak

The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...

s, water buffalo

Water buffalo

The water buffalo is a domesticated bovid widely kept in Asia, Europe and South America.Water buffalo can also refer to:*Wild water buffalo , the wild ancestor of the domestic water buffalo...

 and goats, and in these it affects both sexes equally; however in sheep both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only the females polled.

Terminology

The archaic

Archaism

In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...

 term is sometimes used to refer to hornless livestock (especially cattle) in folk songs

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, tales

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

 and poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, and in the name of the polled Irish Moiled

Irish Moiled

The Irish Moiled is a rare cattle breed from Ireland. It is a dual-purpose breed, producing both beef and milk. It originated in County Leitrim, County Sligo, and County Donegal, but the breed is now found throughout in Northern Ireland...

 cattle breed. "Muley" derives from Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 and Scottish Gaelic maol, and Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 moel.

Genetics

In cattle, the polled allele is genetically dominant to that for horns.

In sheep, the allele for polling in both sexes is dominant to that for being horned in both sexes, and both these are dominant to that for polling in the female only.

The development of wholly polled strains in goats is deterred by the fact that in goats the polling gene is linked to hermaphrodism; naturally polled water buffalo

Water buffalo

The water buffalo is a domesticated bovid widely kept in Asia, Europe and South America.Water buffalo can also refer to:*Wild water buffalo , the wild ancestor of the domestic water buffalo...

 also have genital defects.

Scurs

Naturally polled animals occasionally have scurs—small, loose horny growths in the skin where their horns would be. In cattle this trait has been traced to a separate gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

 (on a different chromosome

Chromosome

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...

) from that responsible for polling. However the presence of the allele

Allele

An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...

 for scurs can only be seen in a polled animal, because horns replace the scurs in horned animals. Similar scurs may also occur where dehorning of a naturally horned animal has been incomplete.

Reasons for polling

Polled livestock are preferred by many farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

s for a variety of reasons, the foremost being that horns can pose a physical danger to humans, other livestock and equipment. Horns may also interfere with equipment used with livestock (such as a cattle crush

Cattle crush

A cattle crush , squeeze chute , standing stock, or simply stock is a strongly built stall or cage for holding cattle, horses, or other livestock safely while they are examined, marked, or given veterinary treatment. Cows may be made to suckle calves in a crush...

), or they may become damaged during handling.

In other circumstances horned animals may be preferred, for example to help the animal defend itself against predators, to allow the attachment of head yoke

Yoke

A yoke is a wooden beam, normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in different cultures, and for different types of oxen...

s to draught ox

Ox

An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...

en, to provide a hand-hold on smaller animals such as sheep, or for aesthetic reasons – for example in some breeds the retention of horns is required for showing

Agricultural show

An agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show , a trade fair, competitions, and entertainment...

.

Development of polled strains

Polled strains have been developed of many cattle breeds which were originally horned. This has usually been done by crossing with naturally polled breeds, most commonly Angus and Galloway cattle. For example, polled Jersey cattle originated in Ohio sometime prior to 1895. Two strains were developed, the first to appear being founded by crosses of registered Jersey bulls on common mulley (hornless) cows. These were graded up by the continued use of purebred Jersey sires, selection being made of the polled offspring of each generation, the horned progeny being discarded. Thus originated what was later known as the single-standard strain. As in the case of the Polled Shorthorns and Polled Herefords, the development of the single-standard strain was soon followed by the appearance of a double-standard strain, founded by a few naturally hornless sports which were discovered in registered herds of horned Jersey cattle. These were bred among themselves or crossed with registered horned Jerseys, followed by selection for the polled head, and the strain was developed in this way.

In Australia work has been undertaken by the Beef CRC and Queensland University which has resulted in a new test that can assist producers to select "true polled bulls" for their breeding enterprise. The test is approximately 90% accurate (but varies by breed due to differences in proportions of polled, scurred and horned animals) and validation is ongoing using larger populations of animals.

See also

• Castration
  Castration
  Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
  
  
• Docking
  Docking (animal)
  Docking is a term for the intentional removal of part of an animal's tail or ears. The term cropping is also used, though more commonly in reference to the cropping of ears, while docking more commonly—but not exclusively—refers to the tail. The term tailing is also commonly used...
  
  
• List of cattle breeds
• List of domestic Asian water buffalo breeds
• List of sheep breeds
• List of goat breeds