Hornlessness

the congenital absence of horns in cattle, sheep, goats, and other animals; it is an inherited trait. Hornlessness is bred in herds of agricultural animals to make care safer and to prevent the animals from wounding one another. By means of selection and breeding, several breeds and indigenous varieties of pollards have been developed, including Aberdeen-Angus cattle; the indigenous Pechora and Vychegda cattle of the Komi ASSR; and Hampshire, Shropshire, Suffolk, and South-down sheep. In some breeds of Merinos only the females are pollards. Besides dehorning by breeding there are other methods of removing horns from animals.