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More developed infants will typically require a longer gestation period. Altricial mammals needs less time to gestate compare to the precocial (well-developed neonate) mammal. A typical precocial mammal has a gestation period almost four times longer than a typical altricial mammal of the same body size. [20]
The meat of adult cattle is known as beef, and that of calves as veal. Other body parts are used as food products, including blood, liver, kidney, heart and oxtail. Approximately 300 million cattle, including dairy animals, are slaughtered each year for food. [99] About a quarter of the world's meat comes from cattle. [100]
Female cattle, also referred to as "heifers" in agriculture, will gradually enter standing estrus, or "standing heat," starting at puberty between 9 and 15 months of age. The cow estrous cycle typically lasts 21 days. [5] Standing estrus is a visual cue which signifies sexual receptivity for mounting by male cattle.
The cows teat is a projection of the mammary gland that is sealed during their dry period. A dry cow refers to a dairy cow that is in a stage of their lactation cycle where milk production ceases prior to calving. This part of their lactation cycle is referred to as the cows dry period and typically last between 40 and 65 days. [1]
If it was a cow's first time calving, she will take longer to re-breed by at least 10 days. [4] However, beef cattle can also be bred through artificial insemination, [1] depending on the cow and the size of the herd. Cattle are normally bred during the summer so that calving may occur the following spring. [1]
This simple method is sometimes used for cattle. The number of animal units represented by one or more head of cattle may be calculated by dividing their total body mass in kg by 454 (or dividing their weight in pounds by 1000). Thus an 800-pound steer would be considered equivalent to 0.8 animal units. [4] Estimation based on metabolic body size.
Mouthing a two tooth grass-fed Murray Grey heifer prior to sale. The age of cattle is determined chiefly by examination of the teeth, and less perfectly by the horn rings or the length of the tail brush; due to bang-tailing, which is the act of cutting the long hairs at the tip of the tail short to identify the animal after management practices, the last method is the least reliable.
Within the American beef cattle industry, the older term beef (plural beeves) is still used to refer to an animal of either sex. Some Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and British people use the term beast. [11] Cattle bred specifically for milk production are called milking or dairy cattle; [1] a cow kept to provide milk for one family may be ...