Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

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  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...

Dehorning your beef cattle can help boost profits

 September 5, 2021 at 10:22 am

Removing the horns from your cattle holds a number of advantages. Most importantly, it will prevent the problem of bruised meat.

Dehorning your beef cattle can help boost profits
Many indigenous cattle breeds, like the Nguni, are horned. While horns may look attractive, the animals can easily hit each other with them, resulting in bruising. In South Africa, bruised meat may not be sold for human consumption. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Bruised meat on carcasses, usually caused by horn blows during transport or in a cattle crush, is condemned for human consumption at abattoirs, causing great financial loss. Dehorning cattle will help prevent this.

Dehorned cattle can also be fed more easily, and there is less interference from dominant animals.

In addition, dehorned animals take up less space. This means that more can fit into a truck, more can be accommodated in a kraal, and more can stand around a trough to feed or drink.

Methods
There are several ways to remove an animal’s horns. Two methods are suitable for smallholders who have only a few cattle.

The caustic stick method
Apply caustic soda (in stick or paste form) to the horn bud before the calf is 10 days old. Be sure to keep the calf out of the rain after treatment, as the caustic soda can run down and hurt its face. Moreover, when the calf suckles, the caustic soda can harm the cow’s udder.

The hot iron method
When the calf is three to six weeks old, burn the horn-forming tissue at the base of the horn bud with a debudding iron heated by gas or fire.

Heat the iron until dull red, press it onto the bud, and move it slowly in a circular motion for about 10 seconds. Hold the calf firmly to ensure the best results.

If the bud is too large, first remove the tip with a sharp pocket knife.

Other methods are not recommended, as these leave open wounds, which can lead to complications. Horn stubs may also develop.
In adult cattle, dehorning is best performed by a veterinarian, as mistakes can lead to fatalities.

Source: www.dalrrd.gov.za

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