She He It

We’re all allowed to have pet peeves, right?

One of my pet peeves is when people refer to straw as hay; and vice versa.  (Visit this post: https://thepleasantfarm.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/if-i-can-teach-you-one-thing-let-it-be-this/ because I’m not smart enough to do the links)

Another pet peeve: calling any four-legged member of cattle a  “cow”.

Cow:  An adult female that has had a calf.

Once a cow, always a cow.  Until a girl has a baby, she cannot be a cow!

Note:  She has an udder which produces milk.  She is lean and powerful.

Heifer: A young female before she has had a calf of her own.

At the time of birth, a female is a heifer.  Until she gives birth herself, she’s still a heifer.

Note:  No udder will be very visible on this girl until she’s close to having her first baby, at which point her udder will produce milk and wah-lah she becomes a cow.

Bull: An intact male.

Intact as in having all his male parts.

Note:  Visible male parts.  Muscular body with thick neck.

Steer: A castrated male.  Once was a bull, now is a steer, could never ever be a cow.

Note:  Steers often resemble the power of a bull, although they are less aggressive and are without testicles.

All cattle can be called calves until they reach adulthood, but to be more specific there are heifer calves, bull calves, and steer calves.  In this picture, there is no way to differentiate gender without taking a peek between their hind legs.

Breeds is a whole other story.  Most of us think of a cow as a black-and-white lady with an udder.  While that certainly does sound like a cow to me as well, there are dairy cows and beef cows– they come in all sizes and color combinations.  I’ve used Holsteins (a breed of dairy cattle) in these pictures, because I discriminate; they’re my favorite breed of all.  So: a black Angus gal with a calf– still a cow.

At our farm, we no longer have cows and are raising heifers for another farmer.  That means:

1. We only have girls.
2. None of them have ever had a baby.
3. None of them are producing milk.

Whew.  Well at least I’ll be sleeping better tonight!