WHY DO COWS HAVE HORNS?

We had a pretty rough afternoon and evening here in Melbourne yesterday. It was so stormy that unfortunately, many people from certain suburbs had their cars damaged because of the hail.

Mr. Junior was quite uncomfortable due to all that thunderstorm and lightening and found it challenging to fall asleep at his sleep time at night. I thought it might be helpful for him to have a little teddy in bed so that he can hug it tight when he feels a bit scared. Despite the fact that he has never had a comfort toy, last night, I offered him a teddy in pyjamas thinking that it would be the perfect comforting friend for bed. Even though he was glad with the idea of a comfort toy in bed, he didn't want the teddy. Instead, he asked for a cow that is almost more than half his size and was gifted to him by some much loved family members. We gave the soft cow to him and I think he felt better with it next to him. However, this time his curiosity took over and he couldn't sleep for a while because he said 'he had some problem'. His problem was that he had some questions in mind about the cow and they were important to him. One of the questions was 'why do cows have horns?'

It is almost always about lots of 'why' and 'how' questions with him at this stage. It is extremely enjoyable, surprising and challenging. Some of his questions make us think really hard. Sometimes, he asks questions that we have never even thought about. Sometimes, we know the answers but it is the matter of finding the right words to explain them to him. At times, he asks questions that we too would love to find out the answers of.

Last night, we told him that some animals have horns to guard themselves but even we weren't quite sure whether it was the reason or whether it was the only reason (or, for example, do they use them while mating or finding food too?). He found the answer satisfactory enough I suppose. So, I went online after he was asleep and checked what information was available on that. Below is all I could find.

• Some cows have horns, while others don't. It depends on the breed. 
• Female cows can have horns just like bulls (male cows). It is not gender dependent. 
• In most cases, domestic cows are 'de-horned/debudded' to protect the carers as well as the herd as it is believed that there is no natural predators and they can do without them. 
• (I was unable to find the reasons behind having horns). 

For further reading on cows, you can visit some websites such as this. Some of the information given is so interesting and some is sure to give many of you goosebumps.

If any of you have any factual information on 'why cows have horns', please share with us so that we can give more reliable information to our children as well as feeding our curious minds with it.