Bovines

• Bos taurus - temperate climates (here)
• Bos indicus- hot climates

prominent pelvic bones, long heart girth (longer than beef cattle), long, thin legs. High body fat, wide udder, 30 pounds of milk per day, 4 teats. must test each teat separately for mastitis. Milked twice a day

holstein-friesian, guernsey, jersey, ayrshire, brown swiss.

dairy cow, black and white, high quality milk, bulls used for veal or beef

dairy cow, brown and white, lots of milk, low milk-fat

dairy cow, mostly 1 color, small head, lots of milk, low fat content

dairy cow

dairy cow

Most restrictive housing. Cow has individual stall with room to turn around and lie down, rubber mat or sawdust for bedding. Spend most of time in stall--good for putting on fat

feeding area and resting area. Most farms use this. Can wander around--not locked in

least restrictive housing. Open to the outside for ventilation, all animals together in a big pen. Eat and wander as they want to Lots of bugs.

large tank automatic milkers pour into. Has an allowable amount of bacteria.

3/4 months. Go on formula after 1-2 days

a cow old enough to give birth that has not yet had a calf

2 months at end of pregnancy when cows are allowed to dry up and stop being milked to prepare for birthing. Cows give birth every year, starting at 2.

cow

bull

steer

calf

calving

inflammation of mammary glands (usually bacteria)

lots of muscle, stocky, small udder, short, thick limbs. Give some milk.

European, Indian, US-developed and emerging. US: Angus, Hereford, polled Hereford. Brahman

beef cow

beef cow. Long-standing breed. American south and southwest

beef cattle. No horns

beef cattle--Bos indicus. Hump, no horns, long, floppy ears

rarely use confinement housing--tend to be open-pasture.

letting into pasture

close to slaughter, beef cattle are brought into large, fenced-in lot where food (hay and pelletted feed) is brought to them. Easy to develop disease (fecal parasites). Separated by sie and age.

cow grazes over territory that has been planted to increase nutrition and increase muscle mass

cows graze over an unrestricted area that has not been planted. need lots of space, can encroach on endangered species. Need big barrels of available water (50 gallons per day) that is not allowed to freeze over, or they'll get sick. Healthier than feed lots, but hard to watch individual animals

reticulum, rumen, omasum, abomasum. Regurgitate from rumen. Abomasum adds enzymes and sends to intestines.

pick up food with tongues and rarely chew. Do not have upper incisors, instead have dental pad.

ear tags to indivate vaccinations, sometimes tattooing. Working on nation-wide ID system

a hole cut in the rumen of a cow to allow people to watch digestion and to act as rumen-donors to re-seed bacteria in rumen of other cows.

• roughage (any vegitation)
• hay (dried grass)
• silage (grains-fermeneted corn or wheat in a silo)
• occasional proteins in beef cattle
• dairy cattle feed is tightly controlled--lots of energy while lactating. Graze 6-9 months

6 months. Then graze open pasture until 15 months, then move to feed lot

ring through nasal septum or squeeze chute, nose tong or rope lead

before 8 weeks, done universally for safety, not during fly season. Electric is best. "Debudding" on a calf

before 3 months. Surgical, emaculatome (crushes spermatic cord)

balling gun, drencher (gas can), syringe, tube

usually removed early. Risk of mastitis high, even after removal

cattle are seasonally polyestrus with 21-day cycles. Lasts 18 hours and ovulation comes 12 hours afterwards. Timing is crucial. Dairy bred by AI to prevent STDs. Beef bred by natural cover. Breeding occurs again 2 months after parturition

can be before 1 year, but not bred until 15 months

9 months

precocial. Need shelter. Need 2 quarts of colostrum within 6 hours of life. After 1-2 days, fed by pail or bucket, usually formula.

calf nuzzling or washing the udder stimulate pituitary to send oxytocin to cause teats to express milk. Produced in alveoli of udder

taking the first couple squirts of milk to examine for blood, debris or flakes (mastitis).

a handle/paddle with four little cups for the four udders. Strip that changes color in presence of bacteria.

time after giving an animal medicine before animal or products can be used for food. Withdrawal refers to drugs, pre-slaughter can refer to calving or dewormer

M. bovis = bovine TB.

B. abortus. Can be responsible for abortion storms (whole herd miscarries). Brucella is zoonotic (blisters and flu-like symptoms)

lots of bacterial diseases, bovine viral diarrhea and brucella for females. Males are not vaccinate for brucella--can give to females during mating.

displaced abomasum (ventralmost part, causes bloat), hardware disease (traumatic reticulopericarditis), skin diseases. White muscle disease (selenium deficiency), milk fever (lack of calcium due to poor nutrition before calving)