Ranchers Dictionary

Heifer:  A young female bovine who has never given birth to a calf

Heiferette: a female bovine who has only given birth to one calf, usually at around 2 years of age.

Cow:  A female bovine that has had at least two calves and is 3 years of age or older.

Freemartin:  Female born twin to a bull calf (approximately 9 out of 10 will be infertile).

Bull:  An un-castrated male bovine.

Steer:  Castrated male bovine.

Artificial insemination (AI):  The technique of placing semen from the male into the reproductive tract of the female by means other than natural service.

Embryo transfer (ET):  Removing fertilized eggs (embryos) from one cow (the donor) and placing these embryos into other cows ( the recipients).

Super ovulation:  Process by which a cow is treated with reproductive hormones to induce her to produce more eggs than normal.

2/3 interest and full possession:  the original owner may collect semen or embryos (at their own expense) after the animal has been purchased by a new owner. The new owner has full possession of the animal and will retain full salvage value of the animal.

Adjusted 205-day weaning weight (WW):  A calf weight taken between 180 and 240 days of age, which is adjusted to 205 days of age and to a mature dam age equivalence. This makes is possible to compare animals of different ages for growth traits.

Average daily gain (ADG):  Measurement of the average daily body weight gain over a specified period of time.

Weight per day of age (WDA):  Weight of an individual divided by its age in days.

Feed conversion (feed efficiency):  Units of feed consumed per unit of weight gained

Number of contemporaries:  The number of animals of similar breed, sex, and age that are raised together in the same environment.

Marbling:  The specks of fat (intramuscular fat) distributed in muscular tissue. It is a major factor in assigning USDA quality grade of a beef carcass.

British breed:  Breeds of cattle such as Angus, Hereford, and Shorthorn originating in Great Britain. Murray Greys are considered a British Breed because they originated from Angus and Shorthorns.

Continental breed:  Breeds originally developed on the continent of Europe. Examples include Simmental, Limousin and Charolais.

Composite breed:  A breed made up of combinations of other breeds.

Parturition:  The act of giving birth; calving.

Dystocia:  Abnormal or difficult labor, causing difficulty in delivering the fetus and/or placenta.

Inbreeding:  The mating together of parents who are closely related, such as brother to sister or mother to son.

Linebreeding:  The mating together of parents who are distantly related, such as animals who have the same grandsire.

Outbreeding:  Mating animals together that are not related.

Progeny:  The young, or offspring, of the parents.

Prepotency:  The ability of a parent to transmit its characteristics to its offspring so that they resemble that parent, and one another, more than usual.

Terminal sires:  Sires used in which all of the progeny, both male and female, are marketed.

Polled:  Naturally hornless cattle. Having no horns or scurs.