The horns originally came from locally reared cattle. As the demand for horn gradually increased, the factories turned to the major cattle-producing countries : Australia, South America and Africa.

These horns are sent to us in 20 or 40-foot containers and packed in bags.

These days, there is practically no cattle horn in France, since the horns are cut from the animals at a very early age to enable them to enter modern cowsheds in order to eat.

Essentially non protected domestic cattle.

The horns are collected in slaughterhouses by specialist companies. They are then dried, stripped of bone and finally treated to eradicate any possibility of vermin. We therefore receive these horns empty, clean and dry and thus ready for manufacturing operations !

Horns from Africa are large and bulky and we use them to make salad servers and large shoehorns.

South American horns, which are smaller, are used to make combs and small objects. Australian horn is scarce and has not been used since 1998.

Horn is a solid material but an object such as comb, whether made from horn, wood, bone, ivory or plastic, is fragile by the nature of its design. The fact that teeth have to be created weakens the material and it therefore has to be handled with care.

Certainly, but there are limits because the surface of the horn is generally subject to limitations. Any new object will require a feasibility study.

Horn contains keratin and nitrogen. In powder or shaving form, it is used as a fertiliser, with a nitrogen content of between 12 and 14%. It is an excellent natural fertiliser, which has the advantage of acting slowly and over a long period of time.