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A cow would already have an udder since she is a mature female bovine, so it's impossible for a cow to grow an udder.

That said, however, a bovine must be female in order to be able to grow or develop an udder. No males, be they bulls or steers, can grow udders. For that female bovine to develop an udder, she must become pregnant at a suitable age (~15 to 18 months old) so that she can begin milk production when she is in her last trimester of pregnancy. Heifers (so are young female bovines called) will begin to develop an udder usually in their second trimester of pregnancy, and this development is primarily of mammary tissue, not yet lactation fluid (milk). Milk production doesn't actually begin until she's close to calving.


The size of udder a cow will develop actually depends on the breed and the genetics for milk production. Misconceptions about milk production would make you believe that hormones given to cows force them to grow larger udders and more milk. This is truly not the case, although rBST injected to American dairy cattle does encourage greater milk production. A dairy cow has a larger udder than a beef cow simply because she has been bred and selected for greater milk production than that beef cow.

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10y ago

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