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Cow School for Dogs
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Tyler learned there was more
to cows than he imagined!
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Cattle:
are raised
as livestock for meat, as dairy
animals for milk, and as oxen to pull stuff.
Dairy cattle:
Cattle of certain breeds bred specifically for milk
production are called milking or dairy cattle.
Cow/CattleSingular terminology dilemma
Cattle can only be used in the plural and not in the
singular: it is a plurale tantum. Thus one may refer
to "three cattle" or "some cattle", but not "one
cattle".
There is no universally used singular form
in modern English of "cattle", other than the sex-
and age-specific terms such as cow, bull, steer and
heifer. Historically, "ox" was a non-gender-specific
term for adult cattle, but generally this is now
used only for draft cattle, especially adult
castrated males.
"Cow"
has been in general use as a singular
for the collective "cattle" in spite of the
objections of those who say that it is a
female-specific term.
However, it is easy to use
when a singular is needed and the sex is not known
or is irrelevant in the context of the conversation,
as in
"There is a cow in the road!"
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Bull:
An adult male with his balls left on is called a bull.
Cow:
An adult female that has had a calf.
Heifer:
A young female before she has had a calf of her own
and is under three years of age.
(A young female
that has had only one calf is occasionally called a
first-calf heifer)
Calves:
Young cattle of both sexes are called calves until
they are weaned. After weaning they are called weaners, feeder-calves or simply feeders until they
are a year old. After that, they are referred to as
yearlings or stirks if between one and two years of
age.
Steer:
A castrated male is called a steer. Draft cattle
under four years old are called working steers.
Ox:
A castrated male or female kept for draft purposes
is called an ox.
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(above)
Brown Swiss
dairy
heifer
(a virgin)
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Beef:
Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef
cattle. Within the beef cattle industry in parts of
the United States, the older term beef is still used
to refer to an animal of either gender.
FACTOID
Hereford cattle
are a Beef cattle breed,
widely used for meat production.
Originally from Herefordshire, England,
more than five million
pedigree Hereford Cattle now exist in over
50 countries.
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(above)
Hereford
bull
(has his
nuts)
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"Tyler!
Look dairy cow!"
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(above)
Holstein
cow: world record milk
producer
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"Tyler!
Look pretty baby calves!"
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"Tyler!
Look calf babies bottle feed momma's milk!"
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Precious baby calf!
Like an Angel sent to earth.
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Mrs. Nissen liked Tyler
She poured him a big bowl of
whole momma cow milk just for
him to enjoy.
Tyler drank it all!
"Arf!
Momma milk yummy dog treat!"
declared
Tyler.
"Say thank you Mrs. Nissen!"
Rusty admonished. He wanted
his dog to be polite and show appreciation.
"Arf! Thank you!"
Tyler appreciated the delicious fresh
milk.
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"Meow
Tyler! You learn all about milk, cows, and how life goes on
purrrfectly from momma to baby!"
said Cleopatra the barn cat.
She was right. The farm was a very educational place for a
young dog.
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Tyler was happy!
He had
learned a lot about heifers, calves, cows, fresh milk, and
even barn cats!
He felt the love, the peacefulness that flowed around him as
the life force expressed itself in all these precious
beings.
Most of all, he liked Nissen Dairy!
"Dairy good place!"
Tyler told Rusty.
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Mrs. Nissen and her daughter gave momma's milk
to the calves.
Milk from the mother carries essential immunity factors, antibodies
and all that good stuff from mom! Plus it tastes so delicious they
feel happy when they drink it.
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"Tyler! Let's go home!"
said Rusty.
Together they headed south
back to the cat & cactus farm.
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Next adventure of
Tyler
the Wonder Dog...
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