Some Terminology

It has come to my attention that I have used and plan to use some terminology that some people may not be familier with. While these words come naturally to me, they are not words that everybody hears everyday.

To start with the basics, cattle are divided into the following catagories.

Cows- females that are over two years of age and have had at least one calf. How do you tell a cow? She will have an udder (below)



A cow, displaying a topline and an udder



Bulls-Males that are intact (are in possession of their own testicles). How do you tell a bull? He's the one chasing the cow with the nicest legs and the biggest boobs- I mean, udder.



Steer- A male that is not intact, i.e, he has been casterated (below). Since he is no longer in possession of his manliness, you can tell which are steers by the ones carrying man-purses and mooing with a lisp. In reality, though, steers are the main source of all the meat you eat.



A bull, easily identified by his... You get the picture



Heifers- Young females, under two years of age, who have not had a calf. How do you tell a heifer? She has a very small, almost non-visible udder, and the tend to be very cliquey. One heifer is frequently ostracised for no good reason, and then another, and another. Those ostracised are always allowed to rejoin their prefered clique.

Calves- Bull and heifer calves are small and young, typically under a year old, and sometimes still nursing.

Parts
Udder-Mammary glands. Ah, who am I kidding, udders are just cow boobs.
Topline- The top line of an animal. i.e, the horizontal edge created by the spine when an animal is viewed from the side.
Hooves-Cow feet. Made of kreatine, they are cloven.

A calf.

Processes

Casteration- Removal of a bull's testicles. Around here we use the banding method, which removes circulation to the testicles, which slowly die and fall of. Do not make me mad, you gentlemen out there, If you do, sleep with one eye open.

Dehorning-Not a common occurance with our mostly polled cattle, but on the off chance we have some hornd we typically put a very caustic paste on the buds when the calf is born, which effectively removes the growth cells required to grow horns.

Vaccinating- Giving cattle shots of killed or live virus material to boost immunity against things like pneumonia and Bovine Respiratory Disease.

Calving- Coming soon to My Cattle World. Keep checking to read about it.

That about sums up today's lessons. If anyone has any questions, please ask me!

Until later, then.