Beef Cattle Terminology

Beef Cattle terminology refers to all the terms associated with beef cattle and their industry. An understanding of Beef Cattle terminology is very important.

 Some most important terms connected with beef cattle are:

1. Ad lib feeding: Cattle can feed as much as they want. There is no bound on the feeding of the cattle. 
2. Artificial Insemination: Artificial insemination is the process by which the egg of cow is fertilized with the sperm of bull by other than natural means.
3. Beef Cattle: Beef cattle are cattle raised for human beef consumption. Milk production is not their main purpose.
4. Birth weight: The weight of calf recorded after the birth (usually within 24 hours).
5. Breeder- Breeder is the person who owns the female parent of the calf.
6. Britain Breeds: Breeds of cattle found in Great Britain like Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn.
7. Bull: The male beef cattle.
8. Calf: The baby of cow.
9. Calving difficulty: Complications in delivering the baby calf.
10. Conception: Conception is when male sperm fertilizes female egg and a new life comes into existence.
11. Cow: The female beef cattle who has given birth to at least one calf.
12. Crossbreeding: Mating of cattle of different breeds.
13. Culling: Less useful animals are removed from the herd.
14. Dam: The mother animal.
15. Dystocia: It is the difficulty in giving birth to the calf. Also known as calving difficulty.
16. Freemartin: Freemartin is the female calf born as a twin to a bull. These calves are generally infertile and have ovaries that do not perform reproductive functions.
17. Gestation: Gestation period is the time it takes the baby to be born after the conception. It is usually 9.5 months in cattle.
18. Gonad: Gonad refers to testicles in bull and ovaries in cow.
19. Half-sibs: Half-brothers and half- sisters.
20. Heifer: The female who has not given birth to a calf.
21. Involution: Some organs expand during pregnancy, delivery and lactation. Their return to their normal size is called involution.
22. Open: The cow that is not pregnant.
23. Parturition: The process of childbirth.
24. Polled: Polled are cattle that don’t have horns or scurs naturally.
25. Puberty: It is the age when animals become sexually and reproductively active.
26. Sibs: Brother or sister calves.
27. Springer: Springer is the cow who is about to give birth to a calf.
28. Steer: Castrated bull.
29. Weight per day of age: To get the weight per day, the weight of animal is divided by the days of his/her age.

     An understanding of Beef Cattle terminology is very important to know this industry and its functioning.