Cattle Reproduction

Since "cow" is being used in a colloquial, highly general sense, it would refer, generally, to a calf.

Specifically, though, cows are mature female bovines that have been young once before. Before they were cows they were heifers. Before they were heifers they were heifer calves (generally known as calves).

There is some variation in gestation period for different breeds of cows, but not much. An all-breed average is about 283 days, with the breed-specific averages ranging from approximately 279-292 days. Individual animals may vary, however, and it is not unusual for a cow to deliver anytime between a couple of weeks before her due date to a couple of weeks after.

The only anatomical changes that occur to the cow is the growth of her belly and her udder filling up with milk.

With the calf though, it's much more complex than this. During pregnancy, after the ovum is fertilized by the bull's sperm, the now-zygote divides and divides until it becomes an embryo. The embryo, after being ejected from the blastocyst that was formed around it and expelled it into the cow's uterus, attaches itself to the uterine wall and starts forming the placenta. The embryo is still undergoing cell mitosis so that different tissues start differentiating into the various organs that are soon to form into the body parts of a fetal calf. The heart and primitive nervous system forms during the first trimester, and sexual differentiation also starts to form according to the pre-determined chromosomes as determined by the sire. Also, limbs and the head start to form from buds, which start to form into legs, a tail and a head. By this time the embryo becomes a fetus. In the second trimester, all the organs, except the respiratory system, begin to form and mature in the fetus's body. Facial features also become better formed during this time, and the hooves, legs and tail also are finished forming by the time the second trimester is more than half-way through. By the time the third trimester arrives, the fetus now has completed forming the body, face, legs, hooves and tail, but no hair is present. The fetus is the size of a cat by now. During the third trimester, the calf grows in size and the lungs begin to form, complete formation by the time the calf is almost ready to be born. Also, hair forms and teeth begin to bud. Then, the calf is too big to fit in the uterus anymore and is expelled via uterine contractions of the cow.

Depends on the breed and the individual heifer. Most heifers are sexually mature by the time they are around 15 months of age; others will be sexually mature when they are 24 months of age, like with Brahman heifers.

Fresh Squeezed Milk

Since Simmentals are typically those that are later maturing than other breeds, the gestation is usually 286 to 293 days in length.

The gestation length of a Dexter cow is short, which is around 260 to 283 days long.

At any time of the year, if you have a year-round calving operation. For those on set calving schedules, calving ranges from mid-winter to early spring (grass-fed operations calve around mid- to late spring) and/or around autumn, primarily.

First they got to kill it. A bullet between the eyes is a quick humane way to do that (draw an X from ear to eye and aim for the middle of the X). Then it's gotta be bled out via cut to the throat. At this point the animal is hung by its hind legs to allow the blood to fully exit the animal. Then it is skinned and gutted, then hung for several weeks in a place where no scavengers will feast on it before the meat is cut off the carcass.

Yes. Cows are mammals and have their calves alive. Unless the cow has a miscarriage, then the calf comes out already dead.

Most often a calf's mother is referred to as the dam of the calf, or more commonly, a cow. If it's a heifer that has had a calf for the first time, some folks like to call her a first-calf heifer.

A calf should be at least 3 months of age before you can deworm it.

A maverick cow. Any unbranded animal is referred to as "slick". Maverick is a term mostly used on steers or bulls that have quit the bunch or are wily and hard to capture (how they remain slick!). Rarely a cow will behave this way, mostly she'll stay within eyesight or earshot of her herd. Maverick cows teach their habits to their calves and become problematic when its time to gather them.

A cow that has NEVER had a calf in her lifetime is called a Heifer.

A cow that has not had a calf YET is a heavily pregnant or heavy-bred, or a short-bred or long-bred cow.

A cow that has not had a calf during a calving season is called a barren cow, an open cow, a cystic cow, a cull cow, a meat/slaughter cow, a poor cow, a free-loader, etc.

Are you meaning fetal development, or in a heifer? In the heifer, the udder starts to form as her unborn-calf develops, although this development can vary dramatically from heifer to heifer. Some fully bag-up (are full of milk) weeks before the calf is born; some do not get a full udder right before or right after the birth. The breed of cow also influences the size and development of the udder.

Udder development continues during lactation. The udder stretching by being full of milk, and the calf nursing on the teats, helps to increase the size of the udder in the young cow. By the second birth, the udder will often be larger and really show the cow (goat, sheep's) potential as a milk-producer.

It is not possible to answer this question since the price cycle for cattle prices cycles every 10 years, thus it is impossible to get an average over this considerable time period. It is also impossible to answer since it depends on the age, weight and type/breed of these calves.

yes, they mate on average 6 times a day with different females.

A poddy calf is a not calf which eats the pod of peas. A poddy calf is an orphaned calf; one who has lost his or her mother.

Genetics. The genes in the momma cow combine with the genes from the calf's sire to create a calf with either the same colouration of the cow or not. What breed the calf's sire matters to. For instance, a Hereford sire bred to an Angus cow results in a black-baldy calf. Or, an Angus cow that has a recessive gene for Red colour and is bred to either a Red Angus bull or a Black Angus bull also with a heterozygous gene for the red gene can most likely produce a red calf. And the examples go on.

A ewe lamb.

Typically a bull animal is a male animal although the "bull" in Bull Sharks refer to both male and female Bull Sharks.

Birthing, or calving.

Lutalyse or Estrumate are products you can give her to abort her calf. Make sure she's in the early stages of gestation first before you decide to abort her, otherwise if you abort her when she's in the last trimester of gestation, you may run into problems.