Cattle

Cattle refers to, well, cattle. Domestic bovine raised for beef and dairy purposes. It's not a group of cows or a little cow family. They're cattle.

Cow

This one's important because most people seem to think cow is a general term for the animal, but it's not. "Cow" only refers to a mature female bovine that has had more than one calf. A bull is not a cow. There is no such thing as a "baby cow." A cow is a mature female bovine having calved more than once. Period.

Bull

A bull is an intact mature male bovine. Every bovine with horns is not a bull. Some cattle breeds are horned others are polled (without horns). Horned cattle can be dehorned. Take home point: horns have nothing to do with gender and bulls are intact mature males.

Steer

A steer is a castrated male bovine. Castration serves a number of purposes that I will explain in a later article.

Heifer

A heifer is an immature female bovine that has not had a calf. A first-time-heifer also known as a first-calf-heifer refers to a heifer that has calved once and a second-time-heifer also known as second-calf-heifer refers to a heifer that has calved twice.

Calf

A calf is a bovine of either gender less-than-a-year-old. A heifer calf is a female calf and a bull calf is a male calf.

Yearling

This one's pretty simple. Yearling refers to cattle that are one year old. So a yearling bull is a one-year-old intact male.

Muley

A bovine that is without horns or naturally does not have horns.

Dry Cow

A mature female bovine without a calf and not lactating.

Wet Cow

A mature female bovine with a calf and lactating.

Springer or Springing Heifer/Cow

A female bovine that is showing physical signs of being close to calving.

Calving

The act of a female bovine giving birth to a calf.

Bred Heifer/Cow

A pregnant female bovine.

Short Bred Heifer/Cow

A female bovine in the early stages of pregnancy.

Heavy Bred Heifer/Cow

A female bovine in the late stages of pregnancy.

Open Heifer/Cow

A non-pregnant female bovine.

Bulling Heifer/Cow

Refers to behavior seen in cattle indicating a female in estrus (in heat).

Broke or Broken Mouth Cow

A female bovine with broken or missing teeth due to old age.

Solid Mouth Cow

A female bovine with all of her teeth in place. Usually meaning a young to middle aged female bovine.

Black Baldy/Baldies

A crossbreed of cattle produced by crossing Hereford cattle with a black breed of beef cattle. They are usually black with a white face.

Bald-Faced

A bovine with a white face.

Motley-Faced

A bovine with a face that is mixed in color. For example, it may have a white with black or red spots; or it may have a largely black or red head and face with white spots.

Scurs or Scurred

Horns that are not firmly attached to the skull. Usually hang loose from the animal’s head.

Slick-Eared

A bovine that has not been earmarked.

Cow-Calf Pair

A mature bovine female and her offspring.

Dogie Calf

A motherless calf. It's usually a poor doer that can be described as being little on both ends and big in the middle.

Whether you grew up using these terms on a daily basis or you've never heard them before in your life, join in the conversation. What are some terms I didn't mention? Were any of these new to you? What other questions do you have for the beef industry?