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Animal science Cheat Sheet by

Terms to know for Animal Science

Cattle (Beef and Dairy)

Bull
a sexually mature male; bull calf used to denote males under a year of age
Cow
a female that has produced a calf
Heifer
a female hat has not produced a calf
Heiferette
a heifer that has calved once, dried up, and then fed for slaughter
Steer
a castrated male
Calf
a young cattle (less than one year of age) of either sex
Calve
the act of giving birth
Stocker
weaned cattle that are run on grass of fed on high roughage diets; generally weigh 350 to 550lbs when started; expected to gain 250 to 300lbs during the growing phase
Cow-Calf Operation
a management unit that maintains a breeding herd of cows and produces weaned claves for sale
Yearling
a cattle of either sex that is 1 to 2 years of age; some cattlemen refer to short and long yearlings
Crossbred
an animal that is a product of the crossing of two or more breeds
Feeder Cattle
those requiring more grown and/or fattening before slaughter
Feedlot
beef cattle enterprise where cattle are placed in confin­ement, fed harvested feeds, and fattened for slaughter
Seedstock Producer
enterprise that produces breeding animals for the commercial segment of the industry; the majority of purebr­eeders fail into this category

Sheep/­Goats

Ram
a male that is sexually mature; young males are called ram lambs
Buck
another name for a sexually mature male; also a male goat
Billy
a male goat
Ewe
a sexually mature female sheep; young females are called ewe lambs
Doe/Nanny
a sexually mature female goat
Wether
a castrated male often referred to as "­mut­ton­s"
Kid
a young goat
Lambing
act of giving birth in sheep
Kidding
act of giving birth in goats
Fleece
the wool of sheep; mohair if from an Angora goat
Flock
a herd or group of sheep or goats
Chevon
meat from goats
Muttons
meat from a sheep over one year of age
Prolif­icacy
ability to produce multiple offspring

General Terms

AD Libitum
allowing animals to eat all they want at all times
A.I.
abbrev­iation for artificial insemi­nation
Anestrous Period
time when a female is not in estrus; the non-br­eeding season
Breed
animals having a common origin and charac­ter­istics that distin­guish them from other groups within the same species
Calorie
the amount of heat required to raise the temper­ature of 1 g of water from 15 degrees celsius to 16 degrees celsius
Colostrum
the fist milk given by the female following delivery of her young; contains high levels of antibodies which are absorbed by the young for quick immunity
Compen­satory Growth
increased growth rate I response to previous undern­our­ishment
Concen­trate
a feed that is high in energy, low in fiber content, and highly digestible
Cull
to eliminate from the breeding population
Dry
refers to a non-la­ctating female
E.T.
abbrev­iation for embryo transfer
Estrous
an adjective meaning "­hea­t" that modifies such words as "­cyc­le"; estrous cycle is the heat cycle, or time from one heat period to the next
Estrus
the period of mating activity in the female
Estrus Synchr­oni­zation
contro­lling the estrus cycle so that a high percentage of the females in the herd express estrus at the same time
Fertility
the capacity to initiate, sustain, and support reprod­uction
Fill
the contents of the digestive tract
Gestation Period
term of pregnancy
Haploid
half of normal number of chromo­somes, found in sperm and ova
Kiloca­lorie
1000 calories
Lactation Period
period that a female produces milk
Libido
sex drive in males
Open
refers to non-pr­egnant females
Roughage
a feed the is high in fiber, low in digestible nutrients, and low in energy; feeds such as hay, straw, silage, and pasture are examples
T.D.N.
total digestible nutrients; it includes the total amounts of digestible protein; nitorg­en-free extract, fiber, and fat (multi­plied by 2.25) all summed together; approx­imates energy content
Weaning
taking a young animal from its dam (mother)
 

Swine

Boar
a male of breeding age; young males are called boar pigs
Sow
a mature female that has produced young
Gilt
an immature female; one refers to gilts who have produced their first little as "­first litter gilts"
Barrow
a castrated male
Farrow
act of giving birth
Farrow to finish Operation
a management unit that maintains a sow herd and carries the production through market wieght
Feeder Pig
a weaned pig that is ready to finish for slaughter
Ear Notch
method of permanent identi­fic­ation
Hybrid Breeding Stock
not a purebred, but used as foundation breeding stock in commercial swine produc­tion; developed by crossing purebreds of various breeds and then multip­lying the hybrid lines

Horses­/Do­nkeys

Stallion
sexually mature male
Jack
an intact male donkey
Mare
a sexually mature female horse; a female who has foaled or a female 4 years of age or older
Jenny (Jennet)
a female donkey
Broodmare
a female horse used for breeding purposes
Filly
an immature female horse
Colt
an immature male
Gelding
a castrated male horse
Foal
a young horse of either sex, still nursing
Mule
a species cross resulting from mating a mare to a jack
Hinny
offspring of stallion X Jenny cross
Stud
either a sexually mature male horse or a collection of breeding stallions at the same location
Weaning
weaned horse, either sex, less than 1 year of age

Poultry

Poultry
this term includes chickens, turkeys, gees, pigeons, guineas, and game birds
Hen
sexually mature female
Cock (Rooster)
mature male chicken
Cockerel
young male chicken
Pullet
mature female chicken
Poult
young turkey of either sex
Broiler
a young chicken of either sex (usually 6 to 8 weeks), marked at about 4lbs
Layer
a hen that is kept for egg production
Tom
a male turkey
       
 

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