There are many people worldwide who think they know what cattle look like but cannot properly tell the difference between a cow, bull, steer or heifer. Most of these people have not been taught how to distinguish between the four. This step-by-step article is intended to teach anyone how to properly distinguish between these different types of cattle.

Steps

  1. 1
    Learn the relevant definitions. These are:
    • Cow: a mature female bovine that has given birth to at least one or two calves. Colloquially, the term "cow" is also in reference to the Bos primigenius species of domestic cattle, regardless of age, gender, breed or type. However for most people who work with or raise cattle, this term is not used in the same reference as previously noted.
    • Bull: a mature, intact (testicles present and not removed) male bovine used for breeding purposes.
    • Steer: a male bovine (or bull) that has been castrated before reaching sexual maturity and is primarily used for beef.[1]
    • Stag: a male bovine (or bull) that has been castrated after or upon reaching sexual maturity and is primarily used for beef, but can and is also often used as a "gomer bull" for detecting cows and heifers in heat.
    • Heifer: a female bovine (often immature, but beyond the "calf" stage) less than 1 to 2 years of age that has never calved. Such females, if they've never calved beyond two years of age may also be called heiferettes.
    • Bred Heifer: a female bovine that is pregnant with her first calf.
    • First-calf Heifer or First-calver: a female bovine that has given birth to her first calf, and is often around 24 to 36 months of age, depending on the breed and when she was first bred.
    • Ox (plural: Oxen): a bovine that is trained for draft work (pulling carts, wagons, plows, etc.)This is a term that primarily refers to a male bovine that has been castrated after maturity. However, an ox can also be female bovine (cow or heifer) or even a bull that has been trained for the same purpose. The word 'ox' was once a general term used, just like with the term "cows," to a domesticated bovine regardless of age, gender, breed, type, or draft purposes.
    • Calf (plural: Calves): an immature bovine (male and female) that is reliant on milk from its dam or from a bottle in order to survive and grow. A calf is known as such from birth to around 10 months of age.
    • Bull calf: an immature intact male bovine (since all males are born with testes) that is reliant on milk from his dam or a bottle for growth and survival.
    • Steer calf: an immature male bovine that has been castrated a few days to a couple months after birth, and is reliant on milk from his dam or a bottle for growth and survival.
    • Heifer calf: an immature female bovine that is reliant on milk from her dam or a bottle for growth and survival.
    • Freemartin: an infertile or sterile heifer or heifer calf. Such infertility is a result of being maternally twinned with a bull calf and whose placental tissues were shared in the womb. During the first trimester, reproductive organs start to form and sexual hormones begin to be produced in the fetus. When male and female fetal calves are twinned together, the testosterone produced by the male inhibits estrogen production in the female. This results in abnormal, underdeveloped or hermaphroditic reproductive organs in the female fetus. This is not so for the male. Freemartins are sometimes referred to as "hermaphrodites" if they are born with reproductive organs of both genders. As a result, this type of freemartins tend to develop secondary male sexual characteristics (muscular crest over neck, wide forehead, etc.) upon reaching puberty.
    • Cattle: general plural term for more than one bovine
    • Cattlebeast/bovine/animal: a singular term for a bovine whose gender cannot be determined, particularly when viewed at a distance. Most people like to refer to a bovine of unknown (or "unknown") gender as a "cow," simply because it is a much more well-known and popular term to use than "bovine" or "cattle beast." This, however, is often not the case around experienced cattlemen and cattle women or "ranchers" (as some like to call them) who never use the term "cow" when referring to a bovine that is anything but a cow. "Animal," "critter," "creature," or any other term, coarse or not, are most often used over the colloquial word "cow." !
  2. 2
    Understand the myths surrounding the ability of being able to distinguish the sex or gender of a bovine.
    • Only bulls are horned; cows are polled: This is a myth. The reality is that both sexes (or genders) can be horned and/or polled. If you are relying on whether a bovine is horned or not as an indication of the sex (male or female) or gender of the animal, please remember that this is the least reliable means of telling whether that bovine is either a cow or a bull. The best way to tell if a cow is a cow and a bull is a bull is to look between the hind legs for presence of an udder or a scrotum, respectively.[2]
    • Bulls are solid coloured (often brown) individuals, whereas cows are only black and white: This is also a myth. Bulls are not primarily solid coloured, nor are cows primarily black and white. Quite frankly, the colouration can be, and very often is ,vice versa: Purebred Holstein, Holstein-Freisian and Freisian bulls are always black and white just like their female counterparts, and many cows, both dairy (such as with Jersey, Brown Swiss, Guernsey cows) and beef (including Gelbvieh, Limousin, Red Angus, Red Brangus, Santa Gertrudis and fullblood Simmental cows) are predominantly brown or red. There are quite a number of breeds in the world that have black and white bulls and cows: the Holstein breed is just one of them, and happens to be the most popular and well-known of these breeds. The same goes for solid-brown or red cattle: Many commercial and hybrid beef cattle are often found to be solid red or brown.
      • As a matter of fact, bulls and cows (not to mention steers, calves and heifers) can be any colour except pink, purple, green and blue. They can be white, brown, black, yellow, orange, red, grey, and any variation (often with white) of any of these colours, including roan, speckled, patchy, pointed, white-faced, dorsal-striped or white-tailed. Belgian Blue cattle, for example, are not named because they are truly blue, but because they are often a blue-roan colouration that makes them appear smokey-blue due to the mix of black and white hairs in the hair coat of this breed.
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  3. 3
    Be aware of the anatomical and physiological differences between each type of bovine. These differences are as follows:
  4. 4
    Go visit a farm or ranch to learn the anatomical differences as described above. This will help you learn to know what to look for and how to properly distinguish the difference between bulls, cows, steers and heifers.
    • When walking along the fence or with the cattle, be calm and quiet. Don't get excited, tense or fearful, around them, and if they come up to you, don't be alarmed as they are naturally curious animals. If you find you are getting tense or afraid, walk out of the pasture or corral to where they can't go, and try to relax.
      • Beware of those that paw the earth at you, throw their heads around at you, approach you aggressively, growl at you, or wrinkle their nose at you. But those that back away from you or simply like to follow you are those that a) respect your space and accept you as The Boss, and b) just like human companionship and think you have treats for them, respectively.[5]
    • If you cannot visit a farm or ranch, find pictures on the Internet to help you learn the differences. You can do an image search through your favorite search engine, or look at pictures posted by other cattlemen and -women that frequent various public cattle or livestock forums, such as CattleToday.com or Backyardherds.com.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    What breed of bull might be all black and scurred?
    Karin
    Karin
    Top Answerer
    Angus. The scurs are very likely to come from some breed that had horns that was used to "breed up" a supposedly "closed-book" breed, such as Jersey or Shorthorn, or even another continental breed to encourage bigger and blacker cattle.
  • Question
    For a calf to become weaned, how long does it drink from mum or be bottle fed?
    Karin
    Karin
    Top Answerer
    Calves weaned off their dam are typically 6 months old (though they can range from 4 to 10 months old), and calves weaned off the bottle are typically 2 to 3 months old.
  • Question
    How may calves can one cow have in her lifetime?
    Karin
    Karin
    Top Answerer
    If a cow lived to 15 years old, she could have had 13 calves.
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Warnings

  • Take note that heifers and steers can be difficult to tell apart, especially if they are put together in the same corral or pasture.
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  • Be very careful around bulls and cows with calves. Bulls and cows with calves are typically dangerous animals, especially if teased or provoked, or if they sense you are a danger to their cow herd or calf. Often it is best to view a bull or cow with calf on the other side the fence or in your vehicle if the farm you are seeing is beside a road.
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About This Article

KL
Co-authored by:
Animal Scientist
This article was co-authored by Karin Lindquist. Karin Lindquist earned a BSc in Agriculture as an Animal Science major from the University of Alberta, Canada. She has over 20 years of experience working with cattle and crops. She's worked for a mixed-practice veterinarian, as a sales representative in a farm supply store, and as a research assistant doing rangeland, soil, and crop research. She currently works as a forage and beef agriculture extension specialist, advising farmers on a variety of issues relating to their cattle and the forages they grow and harvest. This article has been viewed 1,050,698 times.
446 votes - 88%
Co-authors: 34
Updated: December 12, 2021
Views: 1,050,698
Categories: Featured Articles | Cattle
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