Calf is a male or female cattle under one year of age. General Information. Inventory refers to the actual number of animals in bird present in the farm as of a specific reference date regardless of ownership Reference Date: January Round - as of January 1 Cow — sexually mature female cattle that has given birth at least once and with age of 3 years old and above.
Around puberty, testicles grow very quickly, resulting in a rapid increase in scrotal circumference. In general, some European breeds and Bos indicus , or their derivatives, reach sexual maturity later than British breeds. As a result, they are often not suitable for use at yearling age.
These are based on thousands of measurements and are set out in the table below. Dr Coulter suggests that cattle producers should select bulls with scrotal sizes substantially greater than these minimums.
He suggests that bulls with scrotal sizes less than these minimums are likely to have limited sperm-producing capacity and unacceptable fertility under moderate to heavy mating loads. Yearling bulls are usually sexually inexperienced. As a result, they are sometimes, but not always, a little clumsy and awkward. However, young bulls have very steep learning curves. This learning phase may cause minor delays in the start of calving. Should this be a problem, joining should start 7 or 14 days earlier than normal to compensate for the slight delay.
Yearling bulls can be effectively joined either individually or in peer groups. Joining yearlings with older bulls is not only wasteful and inefficient, it is also risky, as the young bulls tend to be more injury-prone. In addition, there is less risk of exposure to venereal diseases when young bulls are joined in peer groups.
Bulls that are being watched by other bulls are likely to serve females more often—they respond to an audience. Conception rates in multiple-joining groups are usually higher, which is understandable, since there are more services made in multiple-joining groups than in single-joining groups.
It is not uncommon for bulls joined in groups to fight in the first week of joining, even though they had been run together before joining. Apparently they sometimes need to re-establish a pecking order. This settling-down phase may help explain why calves occasionally start arriving later than they should. But the insurance does not come free it never does. There is evidence that injury rates in multiple-joining groups are higher, especially when the bulls in the group are of different ages.
Yearling bulls should never be joined with older bulls—the risk of injury is just too great. They should be joined either by themselves or with other yearlings. If the biggest cows in a joining group fail to conceive, size may be a factor. The sexual prowess of some small, high-serving, yearling bulls serving dry cows significantly larger than themselves has been witnessed at Trangie Agricultural Research Station, and one wonders how it was physically possible.
Sex is apparently a wonderful motivator! Bulls do not die from too much sex. However, they do lose condition. This will depend on their health, the quality of their feed, the length of the joining period and the number of females they are joined with. A lot of common sense is needed in order to strike a balance.
In extensive areas with only average or poor quality feed, the joining season should be restricted to 6—8 weeks. The use of yearling bulls is limited only by their health and fitness. If our beef industry is to make progress, we must purge our minds of the belief that a bull has to be fat and well grown to be any good. The value of a bull should be measured by the performance of his offspring—not on what he looks like. Store cattle are growing animals that are usually up to 2 years old that are bought and then finished.
Depending where you are in the world, you may come across the term feeder cattle. When they are ready for slaughter they are finished cattle. Cross-breed is an animal that is a product of crossing two or more breeds. This is done to get the best facets of several breeds into one animal. We hope that you found this guide to cattle terminology useful. Find out more about individual breeds and view all our available livestock. I have never heard of many of these terms before.
My brother is thinking of starting his own cattle farm. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content. Cattle terminology. Understanding cattle terminology. What is a cow? Jersey bulling heifers Young cattle terms Calf is used to describe cattle male or female that are less than a year old.
Cow with newborn calf You may also come across the term springer. Other commonly used cattle terms Store cattle are growing animals that are usually up to 2 years old that are bought and then finished. Jersey crosses More cattle terminology Cross-breed is an animal that is a product of crossing two or more breeds.
What is a steer? A steer or Bullock is also a castrated male animal. Other cattle information We hope that you found this guide to cattle terminology useful. Previous Post.
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