Cow Terminology

Breaking down the common words cattle producers say all the time

Ever wondered what the name for a female cow or male cow is? Or a baby cow? Or maybe what a heifer is?

This #FarmFridayTPStyle post is all about breaking down the terminology that many cattle producers throw around without blinking. I was raised around cattle. So often I forget that many don’t know the names that I say all the time. I wanted to put together a list for you to refer to if you don’t know what I mean in future blogs. There is no shame in not knowing. I’m glad you’re here to learn. Let me know if you have more questions or something doesn’t make sense.

• Rancher: This generally refers to someone with livestock of some sort. Farmers, in the most general sense, grow crops.
• Bovine: Relating to cattle
• Cattle: General term for bovines. Includes females and males, young and old
• Herd: A group of cattle
• Cow: A fully grown female
• Cull Cow: A female that is being pulled from the herd to be sold.
• Bull: An intact male used for breeding purposes or calf that hasn’t been castrated yet
• Calf: baby
• Heifer: A young female
• Steer: A young male that has been castrated
• Replacement Heifer: A young female (normally between 1-2 years old) that is being bred for the first time. Replaces the older cows being culled from the herd.
• 1st Calf Heifer: A female that is coming or has had her first baby (normally around 2-3 years of age)
• 2nd Calf Heifer: A female that is coming or has had her second baby (normally around 3-4 years of age) (Another P.S. here: Heifers go from heifers to being called cows after being 2nd calf heifers. Normally, when they have their third baby, they are considered cows.)
• Yearling: Either gender. These are cattle that are around a year in age.
• Feeder: Cattle that are being finished for harvest
• Springer: A female that is close to having her baby
• Freemartin: In a set of twins that is a bull and heifer, the heifer is normally sterile and called a freemartin

What other words have you heard in relation to cattle and didn’t understand? Leave us a comment and let us know what it was and we’ll explain it!

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~Matt & Kelsey