Bulls and cows without horns

2010/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Abeltzaintza

The company Aberekin of the Zamudio Technology Park has launched a study for the birth of cows and bulls without horns.

"Cutting milk cows is very common among farmers. It is one of the daily activities of a farm. Every week they cauterize the branches to the newborn calves", explains Carlos Ugarte Aberekin.

These animals are mainly cut to facilitate the work of farmers, reducing accidents caused by ramifications. And so the fights between animals are reduced. 90% of milk cows are torn and 10% of beef cattle.

In the company Aberekin is extracted the seed of bulls without horns and sent to the laboratory of the Genomic Service of the UPV. And there, analyzing the DNA of the seed, they see the probability that their descendants will be horned.

"We have done the first insemination with a bull of the limousine race and we hope to see the first results in grasslands in autumn," said Carlos Ugarte. "Looking ahead, the goal is to continue to make an adequate selection of stallions and to transmit from generation to generation the birth gene without branches. In this way, the number of calves born without branches will gradually increase. With a work of 10-12 years, it is possible that 50% of the calves that are born are free of branches", he explained.