livestock terminoly

breed

animals within a species with a distinctive appearance, typically developed by deliberate selection

breeding animal

animals used to produce offspring typically in a controlled and organized way

dam

female parent

flock

grouping species of livestock (sheep, poultry)

herd

group single species of animals (cattle, horses, swine, goats)

litter / brood

multiple offspring produced at one birth by a multiparous (litter bearing) mammal. Twins/triplets are not an example of this.

livestock

domestic farm animals kept for productive purposes (meat, milk, work, wool)

market animal

livestock bred and raised for food consumption

parity

number of times a female has had an offspring

polled

naturally hornless animal

sire

uncastrated male parent

stag

male that is castrated after sexual maturity (often shows signs of masculinity at slaughter)

weanling

an animal that has recently been weaned

yearling

an animal that is about 1 year of age

bovine

relating or resembling cattle

bull

sexually matures uncastrated male bovine

calf

sexually immature young bovine

calving

process of giving birth in cattle

cow

mature bovine (already had a calf)

feeder steer / heifer

that is ready to enter a feedyard and begin the finishing phase

fed steer / heifer

ready for slaughter at the end of a finishing period

heifer

young female bovine which had NOT YET HAD A CALF

ox

castrated male bovine at least 4 years old

steer

castrated male bovine

ewe

female sheep

ewe lamb

female sheep under 1 year of age

lamb

sheep less than one year of age

lambing

process of giving birth in sheep

lambkin

newly born lamb

ovine

relating to or resembling sheep

ram

uncastrated male sheep at least 1 year old

ram lamb

uncastrated male sheep that is under 1 year of age

wether

castrated male sheep

buck

a sexually mature uncastrated male goat

buckling

young uncastrated male goat less than 1 year old

caprine

relating to or resembling goats

doe

a female goat over 1 year of age

kid

young goat of either sex

kidding

process of giving birth in goats

wether

castrated male goat

barrow

young, castrated male swine (castrated before sexual maturity)

boar

sexually mature uncastrated male swine

farrowing

process of sow giving birth to

feeder pig

young pig (40-70 punds) that is ready to be finished up to the market weight (260+)

gilt

young female pig that has not yet given birth

hog

mature swine (usually weighting more than 120 pounds)

pig

a young swine (usually weighting less than 120 pounds)

porcine

relating to or resembling pigs

sow

mature female swine

swine

refers to animals in the pig family

galline

relating to or resembling chickens

hen

female bird over one year of age

pullet

female chicken under one year of age

laying

act of giving birth to chickens

rooster

uncastrated male bird over one year of age

broilers

meat chicken that is 1.5-3.0 months of age slaughter

fryer

meat chicken slaughtered 3-5 months of age

capon

castrated male chicken slaughtered 4-8 months old

chick

newly hatched or very young chicken

cockerel

uncastrated male bird under one year of age

drake

uncastrated male duck

duck

adult female duck

ducklings

baby ducks

gander

adult castrated male goose

goose

adult female goose

gosling

young goose (up until feathers have replaced all of their down)

poult

young domestic turkey

tom

uncastrated male turkey

Meleagrine

relating to or resembling turkeys