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Other than the few bulls needed for breeding, the vast majority of male cattle are castrated as calves and are used as oxen or slaughtered for meat before the age of three years. Thus, in a pastured herd, any calves or herd bulls usually are clearly distinguishable from the cows due to distinctively different sizes and clear anatomical differences.
Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of livestock. Selecting for breeding animals with superior EBV in growth rate, egg, meat, milk, or wool production, or with other desirable traits has ...
Cattle are large artiodactyls, mammals with cloven hooves, meaning that they walk on two toes, the third and fourth digits. Like all bovid species, they can have horns, which are unbranched and are not shed annually. [5] Coloration varies with breed; common colors are black, white, and red/brown, and some breeds are spotted or have mixed colors ...
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] However, cattle breeding can occur at other times of year. Depending on the operation, calving may occur all year round.
Cattle feedlot in Colorado, United States. Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock.
Cattle breeds fall into two main types, which are regarded as either two closely related species, or two subspecies of one species. Bos indicus (or Bos taurus indicus) cattle, commonly called zebu, are adapted to hot climates and originated in the tropical parts of the world such as India, Sub-saharan Africa, China, and Southeast Asia.
For this reason, they require more land than other cattle operations, [7] such as feedlots, veal and dairy cattle production, or breeding operations that focus primarily on the management of bulls for artificial insemination. Pastures may be native or "improved" with forage designed to withstand grazing pressure and help animals gain weight ...
Natural polling occurs in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, and goats, and in these animals it affects both sexes equally; in sheep, by contrast, both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only the females polled. The history of breeding polled livestock starts about 6000 years BC. [2]