Basic Terminologies

of Livestock
• After birth (Placenta): Fetal membranes
connecting fetus to dam
• Breed: Animals having common origin and
characteristics that distinguish them from other
groups within the same species.
• Buck: A male goat or rabbit capable of breeding.
• Bull calf: A male calf under one year.
• Calf starter: A dry concentrate feed especially
formulated for use with young calves from birth to
3-4 months of age.
• Doe: A female goat or rabbit capable of breeding.
• Domesticate: Bringing of wild animals under
captivity to use for human benefits.
• Dry cow: Cow not producing milk.
• Drying off: Act of ceasing milking cow to prepare
for next lactation.
• Dry period: Non-lactating days between to
subsequent lactations.
• Dual-purpose animals: Animals kept for milk &
meat production.
• Dystocia: Abnormal or difficult parturition.
• Estrous cycle: Period from one heat to next.
• Estrus: Period of heat or sexual excitement.
• Ewe: An adult female sheep.
• Exotic: The term used to describe animals foreign
to a region.
• Fattening cattle: A cattle fed for butchering very
soon.
• Fecundity: Efficacy of an individual to produce off
spring.
• Feed efficiency: Unit of feed utilized per unit of
production (milk, meat or milk).
• Filly: A young immature female horse over one
year of age.
• Filly foal: A young immature female horse under
one year of age.
• Flushing: Practice of feeding female on energy rich
diets before start of breeding season.
• Foster mother: A female that raises a young one
that is not its natural birth.
• Freemartin: A sterile heifer born with a bull.
• Gametes: Reproductive cells i.e. eggs & sperms.
• Gelding: Castrated male horse of any age
• Heifer calf: A female calf under one year.
. Heifer: A female cattle over one year of age not
calved yet. After calving it becomes cow.
• Heterosis: Increased production vigor followed by
cross breeding.
• In vitro: Within artificial environment.
• In vivo: In living body.
• Kid: A young goat of either not exceeding one-year
of age.
• Lactation period: Number of days animals gives
milk followed by parturition
• Loose housing: A type of housing system in
which animals are kept loose under the shelter.
• Milk vein: Blood veins visible on abdomen and
udder of dairy cow.
• Mare: An adult female horse.
• Milk replacer: Type of feed for young ones
having similar nutritional value to milk.
• Mule: A hybrid whose sire is donkey and dam is
mare.
• Nanny: A hybrid whose sire is stallion and dam is
donkey.
• Parlous: A female that have produced one or more
young one.
• Persistency: The quality of being persistent in
production.
• Pony: A small horse.
• Prolificacy: Ability to give birth to a large number
of young ones.
• Proven sire: A dairy bull whose milk transmitting
ability have been proved.
• Puberty: The period of an animal life when
reproductive organs become functional first time
in life.
• Purebred: Any animal that traces back through
all its lines to the foundation stock of the breed it
represents.
• Ram: An uncastrated adult male sheep.
• Repeatability: The tendency of an animal to
repeat its performance.
• Reproductive Cycle: Sexual cycle of non-
pregnant female.
• Retained Placenta: Placental membranes not
expelled at parturition.
• Days open: The period between calving and
conception in cows. Called also calving-to-
conception interval.
• Non return rate : The animals not coming to
heat after service ,and supposed to be pregnant.
• Springers: Cattle showing the signs of advance
pregnancy.
• Stallion: A mature male horse kept for stud
purpose.
• Steer: A male bovine castrated before
development of secondary sexual characters.
• Nondescript: Inferior animal having ambiguous
breed.
• Nonreturn: Female not repeating the estrous
cycle after insemination.
• Stillborn: Born lifeless at birth.
• Stover: Fodder mature cured stalks of grains
from which seeds have been removed.
• Stripping: Removal of last bit of milk, which is
harder to remove towards the end of milking.
• Stud: A unit or group of animals kept for
breeding purposes.
• Pregnancy rate is the success rate for
getting pregnant. It is the percentage of all
attempts that leads to pregnancy
• Supernumerary teats: Extra teats (more than 4)
in a bovine.
• Superovulation: The production of more than
usual number of eggs. Normally induced by
hormonal therapy.
• Syndrome: A group of signs & symptoms occur
together and characterize a disease.
• Teaser: A male used for heat detection in females.
• Weaning: Taking the nursing young one
away from dam.
• Wether: Castrated adult male sheep.
• Yearling Bull: An uncastrated male between
the age one and two year.
• Monotocous:Animal producing a single
offspring at a birth.
• Polytocus:Animal producing several
offspring's at a birth.
Colt: A young immature male horse over one year
ofage.
Colt foal: A young male horse under one year of
age.
Conception: The action of conceiving of a
female.
Colostrum: The first milk produced by the
female immediately after parturition which is
highly nutritious and a rich source of antibodies.
Foaling :act of parturition of mare
Lambing: act of parturition of sheep.
Kidding: act of parturition of goat.
Whelping :act of parturition of bitch.
Calving: act of parturition of cow