When do cows get their horns?

Answer 1

"during the spring they grow they're horns. in the summer they have a leathery material called velvet. in the fall they fight for the mate. in the winter their horns fall off. SWEET! and then u can go and collect the deer antlers.! WHAT A SWEET TREAT!" -ORIGINAL ANSWER TRUE ANSWER: Deer antlers and bovid horns (cows are bovids) are produced in very different ways. Unlike antlers, horns are never branched, but they do vary from species to species in shape and size. Horns are composed of a bony core covered with a sheath of keratin. Neither the sheath nor the core are ever shed, and in many species, the horns never stop growing. Horn cores begin as small bony growths under the skin, over the skull, in the subcutaneous connective tissue. They are not attached to the skull and are known as ossicones. They possess their own centers of ossification and fuse secondarily to the skull bones. In members of the family Bovidae (which cows belong to), horns develop from or over the frontals.

Answer 2

Not all cattle get horns - some breeds have been carefully selected to not develop horns. However, in horned breeds, the horns start developing at 2-3 months of age and are noticeable by 6 months. The horns will continue to grow throughout the cow's life and Texas Longhorn cattle may have horns several feet across.