# Cattle lingo !!



## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

One of my pet-peeves on this forum, and I don`t mean to be critical. People should learn the terms when dealing with cattle. For one thing if you go to a farm or sale barn looking for cattle, you will look like you know what your looking for, even if you maybe don`t.

Calf - newborn off spring from a cow
Bull - Uncastrated male 
Heifer - Female offspring, that has not had a calf
Steer - Castrated bull
Cow - Female bovine that has had a calf
Springer or Springing heifer - Heifer that is due to have a calf
Dry cow - Cow that is between lactations, that is not curently milking
Fresh cow - Cow that has just had a calf
Cull Cow - Cow that is headed to butcher
Cattle - any bovine animal

Now I may have missed a couple, and differant parts of the country may have another name for something. And as I said I don`t mean to be critical, I just want you to learn what to call bovine of differant sexes, and ages. > Thanks Marc:clap:


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

One that confused me at first was "heifer bull"...and from my understanding it is a bull which throws small calves to ease the first calf birth of a heifer (did I explain that right?)


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Bred cow - bred cow or springer
Open cow - not bred
Broken mouth - missing teeth
solid mouth - has all her front teeth they get all of their permanent front teeth at 4 years old.

Short and solid - still has all teeth but wearing short
Shelly if you hear this they are wore out bottom end slaughter cow.


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## Patrick (Sep 13, 2011)

I agree, it irritates me when to some people all cattle are "cows". 
The use of improper terminology is not limited to cattle.
Boys and girls are human children.
Ladies are classy human females.
Kids are young goats. (OK, maybe acceptable for young humans, but I still prefer children.)
Female chickens are hens or pullets.
Male chickens are cocks, cockerels or roosters, not a word which resembles baby talk.
Droppings are stool, manure, or waste, unless I'm talking with a three year old.


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

And Short Bred is not a cookie


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

Springer isn't a term I have heard yet. And I suppose I get your pet peeves, though it isn't one of mine.

One of mine is people calling yellow jackets, wasps and hornets---bees. They are not bees.


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## Rocktown Gal (Feb 19, 2008)

Yearling - calf that is under a year old

Fold - Scottish Highland Cattle is a Fold not a Herd


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Springer or Springing heifer - Heifer that is due to have a calf



springer it should be when they see the vulva swelling

3rd stage is when in 3 months they will have calf

2nd stage of course is the middle 3 months

short bred is first 3 months of being bred


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

springer is anything that is within 2 months or so 
bred covers 4-7 months 
short bred is up to 4 months bred

round here.....


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Sammyd....does your sale barn use the colored tags on cows to show how long they are bred ....blue 1 st stage first three months....red is 2nd stage 3 to 6 months bred and green 3 rd stage bred 6 to 9 months..all sale barns I have every been to have that posted somewere ....why I used the stages and 


how do you tell a springer if in the last 2 months with out a due date.....vets are good at guessing but bred a beef cow to a jersey bull and you will throw them every time but if you see the vulva swell thats a pretty good sign on springing


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Calf - newborn off spring from a cow

ok what is a 2 month old called

what is a 5 month old called 

what is a 9 month old called

a close to 12 month old is called a yearling


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Springer or Springing heifer - Heifer that is due to have a calf


that is due to have a calf when using your term...a heifer that is due to have a calf in 7 months would be called a springer....NO WAY

bred heifers here are called HEIFERETTE


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Local sales barn: No age markings - yearlings. Larger heifers are aged by number of permanent teeth they get until they have six. 2/6 would be a two-year old six months bred (more or less). After they get all teeth they are called full mouths. Once they have some wear they are known as full/slashes. Teeth worn down to pegs, a pegger. Teeth worn down to gums, a gummer.

I once had a 16-year-old Holstein which would have been classified as a full/slash.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Now some of you guys are starting to split hairs, to most of us old timers we know darn well a springer is a heifer close to calving. I was also using this as a general terminolgy for those that know very little about cattle. And I do also know well and good that differant parts of the country call cattle differant things. And the real old timers called them something differant alltogeather. But I do thank you all for adding to the list, AllenW got a few I was thinking but didn`t write down, and I never knew highland cattle were a fold not herd. Keep writing, I`m going to make like a herd of sheep and get the flock out of here, lunch is calling me. > Thanks Marc


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

On Tuesdays which is the dairy sale day, all cattle are checked by a vet and their length of pregnancy is announced when she comes in the ring as well as any other problems noted such as bad quarters and CMT test results and so forth as well as production if the seller has included it. No tags or anything.
Don't dabble in beef cattle. And have never seen bred beefers mostly open heifers and cows.


> ok what is a 2 month old called
> 
> what is a 5 month old called
> 
> what is a 9 month old called


calves


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Every sale barn has a different way of doing things. Used to go to one that sold a lot of 8 year old cows, the next age group was broken mouth.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Sammyd I agree 100 % but why i posted that was 
Springvally posted

Calf - newborn off spring from a cow
..

why I posted ....he said NEWBORN...why i wanted to know what he called the other ages under 1 year


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

but...but...sometimes it's more friendly-sounding to say, my heifer that's going to calve....than that springy thing.....:nana: Who wants to sound like a snob?

And 'cow' is much faster and a bit more exercise than typing "steer"..... since you use both hands to type 'cow' and only one for 'steer'. 

And if you want to split hairs - let's talk about how to spell 'calves'.....


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

springvalley said:


> to most of us old timers we know darn well a springer is a heifer close to calving. > Thanks Marc



Just wondering what you call a 5 YEAR OLD COW THAT IS CLOSE TO CALVING

I CALL THEM SPRINGERS ALSO


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Callieslamb said:


> but...but...sometimes it's more friendly-sounding to say, my heifer that's going to calve....than that springy thing.....:nana: Who wants to sound like a snob?


You could always say she's going to freshen. 



myersfarm said:


> Just wondering what you call a 5 YEAR OLD COW THAT IS CLOSE TO CALVING
> 
> I CALL THEM SPRINGERS ALSO


We'd call that a heavy bred cow.


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

Hey! Where's the Gomer Bull term in the OP?:rotfl:


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

at My sale barn as you can see that call them SPRINGER COWS


Replacement Cows:
Fresh Cows:
Approved &#8211; 1125.00-1425.00, ind Crossbred 1200.00, ind Jersey 975.00
Medium &#8211; 825.00-1075.00, ind Crossbred 1000.00
Common - 750.00-850.00, couple Crossbreds 735.00-775.00, ind Jersey 700.00

Milking Cows: Scarce

Springer Cows bred seven to nine months: Scarce

Baby Calves:
Holstein heifers &#8211; small 100.00-130.00
Jersey Cross heifers couple 90.00
Holstein bulls - 100.00-155.00, small 35.00-75.00
Jersey X Holstein bulls - 40.00-90.00
Jersey bulls &#8211; ind 20.00
Beef Cross bulls &#8211; 130.00-165.00
Beef bulls &#8211; 185.00-255.00


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

myersfarm, if you go by show cattle, they have three calf classes, junior, intermediate and senior heifer calves. But yes, I call all calves under a year a calf. Some of the names I call my cows I can`t type here, depends on what kinda stuff they have done that day. hehe. > Thanks Marc


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Re: calves. Beef calves. Once they have been pulled off their mothers, they could be called "weanlings" or "stockers". They might be 6 months old, they might be 8 months old. 

While they are with their mothers, they are "calves at side". When you talk about them, it is more likely you would refer to their *weight* than their age. Such as, "short bred cow with 300 pound calf at side", rather than "short bred cow with 4 month old calf at side". The calf's value is in their *weight*, not their age, so that is the better reference. 

This "short bred cow with 300 lb calf at side" could also be called a "3-in-1" (just to confuse the newbies. lol) 

When they get close to a year old they are yearlings. If my calves were born in April, when January of the following year rolls around, they would likely be called yearlings at my place because they are from last year.


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Stockers=Weaned calves weighing between 350 and 550 to be put on pasture.
Feeder=Large calves/yearlings weighing 600 and up.
Fats/fat cattle=finished cattle ready for slaughter.


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

For me, steers are not castrated bulls, rather they are simply castrated males, bull calves that have been castrated before puberty. Stags are castrated bulls, where they've been castrated after sexual maturity.

I like to refer to cows as mature female bovines that have had at least two calves. Bull can be mature intact male bovine or just intact male bovine. Two-year old bulls are bulls 2 years of age, yearling bull is a bull around a year of age, and mature bull is a bull over 3 years old. 

First-calvers or first-calf heifers are female bovines that've had their first calf.

Calf - immature bovine that is less than 10 months old.
Heifer calf - immature female bovine
Bull calf - immature intact male bovine
Steer calf - immature castrated male bovine
Stockers - young cattle that have been weaned and have started backgrounding phase prior to finishing
Feeders - young stock (steers and heifers) near ready for slaughter
Finishers - cattle on hot diet and/or ready for slaughter
Weaners - calves that have been just weaned
Short yearling - young bovine that is 10 to 12 months old
Long yearling - young bovine over 12 months to 15 months old
Heifer - female bovine that has never been bred
Heiferette - heifer that is past 2 years old that has never been bred (my own term...)
Bullock - young bull less than 10 months of age
Dry-bred cow - pregnant cow not lactating
Cull cow/bull/heifer - animal that does not add productivity to the breeding herd and should be or is in the process of being sold
Bologna bull - bull intended for slaughter

I know there's others, but I too really hate it when people have to believe that a "cow" is anything and everything to do with cattle, including bulls and calves. What's worse is I've seen people talk about a calf in the first sentence then revert to the word "cow" when still referring to that calf. Well is it a calf or a cow??? Honestly...


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## Cindy in KY (May 10, 2002)

Heifer calf, Bull calf, steer calf
Heifer is a Heifer until she has a calf, no matter how old she is. She is not a cow until she calves. (spinster heifer) 

A filly is not a mare until she has a baby.

1 calf cow, 2 calf cow, 3 calf cow, etc.
When asked how old our Jersey is, I say 2 calves.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I guess I'm guilty of this. I know better, but when talking to non-farm folk, I keep it simple and call all adult cattle cows. I know I've said, " See that herd of cows over there." when I don't know that they are cows. I should have said herd of cattle. I'll try to do better.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Cindy in KY said:


> Heifer calf, Bull calf, steer calf
> Heifer is a Heifer until she has a calf, no matter how old she is. She is not a cow until she calves. (spinster heifer)
> 
> A filly is not a mare until she has a baby.
> ...


A new born horse might be a colt, but maybe not. It could be a filly instead. Lots of folks say, " Nice colt you've got there. Is it a filly?"


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Everybody forgot my favorite terms that I have heard people say more than once:

Bull = has horns
Cow = no horns


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

Cow just rolls off the tongue easy that is all!

Did any of you people see that farm animated movie a while back. I can't remember the name, but they had a couple of Jersey cows, and they were definitely cows, they were always standing up on their back legs with their udder hanging out. But the voices they gave to them were male. And they were always saying "Yo Wassup" like they were from New Jersey.

Kind of like the bee movie where they gave the bee Jerry Seinfield's voice. (Hint all bees you have ever seen are female--unless you have gotten into the hive)


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Funny, I was just thinking of starting this very thread yesterday.

I would add that "springer" is a dairy term. Beef folks say "bred heifer", and after she has had a calf a "first calf heifer", and after that a "bred cow".


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Free martin, the female of a set of twins, one male one female, the female being unfertile and only good for slaughter..

Round here, we dont call ours cattle, they are shaggy, horned beasts, although someone asked me once if they were yaks.

LOTS of people assume, the horned ones are male, and aggressive. Sheesh! Our 7 year old, polled, mixed breed cow, one of the smallest polled we have, is the herd queen. 

Herd queen, top female in the pecking order. Everyone bows to her desire.

There is also jumper bull. A jumper bull is an intact male bovine that has just reached maturity and is used for breeding. 

Club calf is one bred and raised with the objective of being shown by 4H kids or FFA kids.


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

Still no definition of a Gomer Bull? 

It's a bull that hasn't been castrated, rather has had a vasectomy and has had his "sword" re-routed to the left or right. His job is to show who's in standing heat.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Judy sorry I knew what was did not see the post...first time i saw that it was a big laugh...his was re routed as you say after the first time I saw that wondered how he every stayed fat as he was trying every 5 minutes all day long


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Karen in Alabam said:


> And Short Bred is not a cookie


Karen, I had a good chuckle from this when I read it, I think of this when I hear short bred also. hehe. > Thanks Marc


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I was always taught that a female bovine is called a heifer until she has had her second calf.
All the little ding-a-lings that are first fresheners are still heifers, until they drop that 2nd calf.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

His SWORD!!ound:ound:


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

well it is inside a sheath 





lonelyfarmgirl said:


> His SWORD!!ound:ound:


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

gone-a-milkin said:


> I was always taught that a female bovine is called a heifer until she has had her second calf.
> All the little ding-a-lings that are first fresheners are still heifers, until they drop that 2nd calf.


Yes, we call them heifers too until they freshen in with their 2nd.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

Willow girl and Gone a milking

I have heard that before but did google searches and every thing I could think of and never found a reason why do you all know


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I dont know why, except that they are always still silly and 'young' for the entirety of that first lactation. :teehee:
Sort of like pointing out a woman who is a first-time mother?
Youthful and idealistic and a bit of a worry-wort?


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

I have heard it MORE in my travels west...suprised me you said it and in Missouri


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I did grow up on a dairy farm in WA state.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

I always think of the first-calf heifers as li'l unwed teenaged mothers.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

willow_girl said:


> I always think of the first-calf heifers as li'l unwed teenaged mothers.


They all hang back together too, whispering to eachother and watching what the older ladies do.
It is a bit like the cliques in highschool.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

thought it was from the west...I have been in 47 states and drove the coast line of USA except from Los Angles to Mexico




gone-a-milkin said:


> I did grow up on a dairy farm in WA state.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

The whole first-calf and second-calf heifer thing is usually just a dairy thing. I'm guessing because it takes them until at least their 2nd year to really hit production. Beef people never call a cow a 2nd calf heifer...at least none that I've ever heard. _Technically_ though, she's a cow after she freshens once.


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## Timberline (Feb 7, 2006)

This one is my pet peeve: a cow has one udder and 4 teats. She does not have an utter, or utters, or tits or nipples. How many times I've read something like, "The nipples on my cow's utters..." :smack


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

This one is my pet peeve......they go shopping for a MILK cow get it home the get on a forum 2 weeks later and say 

NEED ADVICE WHAT DO I DO NOW Can I skip milking her for a week I need to go on vacation


can they not plan or ask before they buy


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## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

Around here, a YEARLING is any animal that is older than 1 year and younger than 2 years.

A SPRINGER is a cow that is very close to freshening, no matter the age

A HEIFER is a cow that has never had a calf

Interesting how words have different meanings depending on where you are and who you ask


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## Calfkeeper (Feb 1, 2006)

My husband often refers to cow teats as "spigots." Dunno why, just more fun to say I suppose.

How about "bobbies?" The little bull calves we sell off of the dairy. I assume people band them and raise for beef.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Well, I had to read that several times. I was temporarily confused, I thought you said BOOBIES.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

MDKatie said:


> The whole first-calf and second-calf heifer thing is usually just a dairy thing.


In points west this usually refers to beef cattle and not dairy cattle.


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

Filly - female horse that has not had a foal up until the age of 4 years old, then she is a 'mare' regardless of whether she has had a foal.

In this area we also have
Backgrounder - light weight weaned calf. Usually under 600 lbs. That is being fed slowly so as to develop frame
1st Calf Heifer - a heifer that is either pregnant for the first time or raising her 1st calf.
2nd Calf Heifer - a young cow that is either pregnant for the 2nd time or is raising her 2nd calf lol.
Fat - A finished steer/heifer usually in the feedlot


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

So what is the term for a generic singular bovine?


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

southerngurl said:


> So what is the term for a generic singular bovine?


What gender and intact or altered?


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

southerngurl said:


> So what is the term for a generic singular bovine?


Whenever you hear someone say "Your cow is out on the road!" it is generally understood what they mean.


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## Patrick (Sep 13, 2011)

gone-a-milkin said:


> Whenever you hear someone say "Your cow is out on the road!" it is generally understood what they mean.


That may be, but it doesn't make it correct.
It's always frustrated me that we don't have an English word for a generic single bovine.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

your CATTLE are out in the road but only if you have 2...lol



Cattle can only be used in the plural and not in the singular: it is a plurale tantum.[23] Thus one may refer to "three cattle" or "some cattle", but not "one cattle". There is no universally used singular form in modern English of "cattle", other than the sex- and age-specific terms such as cow, bull, steer and heifer


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Ken Scharabok said:


> Local sales barn: No age markings - yearlings. Larger heifers are aged by number of permanent teeth they get until they have six. 2/6 would be a two-year old six months bred (more or less). After they get all teeth they are called full mouths. Once they have some wear they are known as full/slashes. Teeth worn down to pegs, a pegger. Teeth worn down to gums, a gummer.
> 
> I once had a 16-year-old Holstein which would have been classified as a full/slash.


Found this interesting as in the dairy world, we don't pay much attention to teeth! Sadly, it seems most cows wear out before their teeth do. 

The above made me curious, though, so I checked out my favorite cow's teeth today. She was fairly cooperative, although I had to soften her up a bit by scratching her chin first. Suffice to say that at age 13, "Bitey" would more aptly be named "Peggy." ound:


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

Ah, poor ol Bitey Jane. Its a good thing she can still gum down those bananas! 

I have heard the phrase all my life "Milk the teeth out of 'em", used to imply running an old cow down to nothing.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Patrick said:


> That may be, but it doesn't make it correct.
> It's always frustrated me that we don't have an English word for a generic single bovine.


I've always wondered why we don't have such a word too. You could say "bovine" but folks would look at you funny.

As a generic singular I usually say "cow critter".


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

willow_girl said:


> Found this interesting as in the dairy world, we don't pay much attention to teeth! Sadly, it seems most cows wear out before their teeth do.
> 
> The above made me curious, though, so I checked out my favorite cow's teeth today. She was fairly cooperative, although I had to soften her up a bit by scratching her chin first. Suffice to say that at age 13, "Bitey" would more aptly be named "Peggy." ound:


I think teeth is also less of a factor with dairy cattle because of silage and TMR rations. 

I remember hearing of a guy who would buy bred gummers, put them in a feedlot on silage, calve them out, feed them until they weaned and then shipping them in reasonably good condition.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

oneokie said:


> What gender and intact or altered?


Not specified, like the term dog or horse. A true singular of the word cattle. 

(I looked it up after posting, apparently there isn't one. How many animals have no species name except in plural form?!)


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## Honduras Trish (Nov 30, 2007)

Guilty as charged here! I'm working on my cattle terminology, though. We now have a cow, a bull, and two heifers. On my blog, I've been calling one of the heifers a cow, one of the heifers a calf, and the whole group "the cows."

Just for historical reference however, I was raised in the suburbs. My husband worked at dairy farms for a summer job while in college. Our very first date was a "steer roast" hosted by his college dorm. As the whole group of college guys and their dates ate their roast, I asked, as part of the dinner conversation, "So, why is this a "steer," not a "bull" or a "cow"? That question was met with rather embarrassed silence. 

So, I have a history of cattle-term ineptitude that goes waaaaay back.


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## fitz (Jan 7, 2010)

Ed Norman said:


> Everybody forgot my favorite terms that I have heard people say more than once:
> 
> Bull = has horns
> Cow = no horns


That's the best way to tell them apart. The ones with horns are boy cows.

fitz


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

fitz said:


> That's the best way to tell them apart. The ones with horns are boy cows.
> 
> fitz


 That's what my 5 year old's teacher taught his class. He got up and told her that was stupid, she'd have to start looking for nuts instead.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

To give folks a little slack, cows are the unchanging core of a cattle herd. Calves come and go, except the ones that become cows. No one keeps a bull without cows.

When the sherrif calls to say there's a cow on the road, it's all the same.


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

southerngurl said:


> So what is the term for a generic singular bovine?


Cattle-beast.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

DaleK said:


> That's what my 5 year old's teacher taught his class. He got up and told her that was stupid, she'd have to start looking for nuts instead.


ound: ound: ound:



> Ah, poor ol Bitey Jane. Its a good thing she can still gum down those bananas!


Yep! And she is gonna get some today ... DH went grocery shopping yesterday!


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Judy in IN said:


> Hey! Where's the Gomer Bull term in the OP?:rotfl:


This knowledge comes from being close to Purdue.


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