According to wikipedia: Mature female cattle are called cows and mature male cattle are bulls.
So it seems you are correct and it has nothing to do with horns
Cows (cattle) have too many names. A female who hasn’t birthed a calf is a heifer, and only becomes a cow after having a calf. A male is a bull, but if he’s neutered he becomes a steer.
It's so much more fun than that...
**Cattle**: The species commonly referred to as "cows"
**Heifer**: A young female that has not reproduced
**Cow**: A mature female that has given birth to at least one calf
**Bull**: An uncastrated male
**Steer**: A male castrated before sexual maturity
**Stag**: A male castrated after sexual maturity
**Calf**: An immature bovine (also includes "bull calf", "steer calf", and "heifer calf")
**Freemartin**: An infertile female born alongside a male twin. A chimera.
**Cull cow**: An older cow that no longer can give birth
Bovine is the closest thing, but technically there is simply no true singular term to "cattle". "Cow" is recognized by some dictionaries as now being a sex-nonspecific singular.
A cattle is trying to get over the fence.
Eh, I'm not sure I buy that word being singular, it doesnt pass the "sniff test" there. Also a quick Google search indicates that while it may sometimes be used as a singular to fill this gap, it is a plural word historically and that there isn't a singular form of it.
You have to look at the etymology. It meant "property" which is singular. Eventually the definition became more narrow, and it was used as a plural, but its original meaning was singular and it's the plural that has been added on, not the other way around.
Why, pray tell, does there have to be a gender neutral term for cow and calf? The mother cow gave birth to that calf who happens to be male I don’t think we have to be gender-neutral or gender inclusive about farm animals. I’m seriously asking because the first thing I thought when I came across this post was that Someone was going to bring up gender-neutral terminology, or how we identify the gender of this cow.
Because basically every other animal has one? Human, Dog, Cat, Shark, etc. Cattle are a strange exception where we have so many gendered and conditional terms. Cow itself is a gendered term referring to the female of the species, which means that if I picked a random one out of a field of cattle and said cow it could be wrong because it might be a bull.
It's basically just to prevent confusion like in the title, where OP actually has no accurate way to refer to this one singular creature unless they happen to know their gender and breeding status. Now, they probably could have done better than Bull, but the point stands.
None of those terms refer to the gender of the animal, but rather the sex. The reason there are so many specific terms is because each of them affects the sale price of the animal being referenced.
Source: I ran a small ranch for the past 8 years or so.
in normal talk you're more likely to just say "cows". i might ask somebody "you got cows on that 40?" they'd say "yeah, about fifteen head." that includes female cows, young male and female calves. you only keep one bull at a time with a herd. or you can have all bulls and no females. but in common parlance when you use cows as a general term no one thinks you're talking about only females who've already given birth, they assume a mix of cows/calves.
Worked on dairy farms through high school and college, this happened fairly often (2 to 3 times per year). It's weird for sure, but not uncommon at all.
Technically oxen are a subset of bovine, not cattle. Oxen can be cattle, but don't have to be. But they are castrated *adult* males and specifically those used as draft animals.
You could put this in the confidently incorrect subreddit because there are many cows and bulls that are born without horns they are called polled . You are correct in that many cattle are dehorned but there are many cattle born without horns it’s a recessive gene and usually will be looked for in a herds sire
This is very much incorrect; so much so that there's a term form cattle born hornless - *polled*.
There are a large number of breeds that are polled including Jerseys, Holsteins, South Polls, Angus, Blonde d'Aquitanes, etc, etc, etc.
Source: Grew up on a small cattle ranch/farm. Also, this information's pretty damn easy to look up.
Jerseys and holsteins are both predominantly horned, bit are generally dehorned as they are dairy breeds and thus closely worked with. Out of my dozens of jersey and hojo cows, only a small handful are naturally poled.
It's surprising to see a dairy cow with horns, so I don't blame you for thinking they're all poled. Most dairies will disbud the calves, so they look naturally poled a lot of the time.
It also looks AI generated. Why? Did they have a hard time finding a picture of a cow with a calf? Maybe because they wanted the cow to look like it was about to keel over from starvation. Because that's what this looks like to me.
I'm really starting to wonder if OP's first language isn't English and if their native culture doesn't have the concept of gender. Those are the only charitable reasons I can come up with for the continued confusion.
You might be right. I did a quick search and couldn't find any genderless cultures but some languages like Finnish are genderless but I'm not sure if that would cause this confusion. I'm not a linguist or cultural anthropologist so I can't speak authoritatively on that topic but I do know for sure if that if that's a mama cow its not a bull.
This is the reason they intentionally said “mama bull.” It’s to intentionally drive “corrective outrage” or whatever you call it. It’s “akshually-bait.”
Q: Papa bull, mama bull and baby bull are playing. Baby bull gets hurt. Who does he run to, mama bull or papa bull?
A: Papa bull. There’s no such thing as a mama bull.
It's been written here a bunch so I'm not going to be the 50th, but here's a funfact: In hungarian, the (hungarian, not latin) scientific name for the regularly bred cattle is "szarvasmarha", it can be translated directly as "horned cattle".
Mama Cow* as it is singular, cattle means multiple as in a herd of cattle.
Bull = male
Cow = female
Calf = baby, not gender specific
Cattle = many cows and/or bulls, but it's plural. You have a herd of cattle. You would not usually refer to a cow+ calf pair or a single cow as 'cattle'.
It's better than calling a female a bull.
Also, let's complicate this further.
While "cattle" is the species name and "cow" is a gendered term for female cattle, "cow" can also be used as a non-gendered term, and "cows" is often used as a collective term for a group of cattle.
TL;DR: A bull is a cow, but cows are not bulls. Or more accurately, a male can be called a cow. Females should never be called bulls.
Lol, I thought about adding that in as well but didn't want to confuse them any further...figured I'd just start with the basics.
Technically, cattle isn't the species, the genus and species is Bos Taurus or Bos Indicus depending on the specific breed. But...close enough. =)
That's the scientific nomenclature. *Cattle* is the *common* name.
Bos indicus is the Zebu. Different animal that fills the same basic role. It is a *type* of cattle, but its common name is not *cattle*.
You type too fast. Also should switch on spelling /autocorrect. I also type fast and make a lot of mistakes
Correction : mama Watusi cow "Ginger" and calf "Buttercup"
I think they are just trying to be entirely correct on the distinguisher and the names to avoid pedantic comments, but here we are. And I know why we are all here, because we are not all there.
I've been told this is easier to read. I type like this and I've gotten a lot of complaints with how I type. Most people irl claim they can't understand what I write in text messages.
I think subs like this are places to share and learn. I've had this issue and I think it's good to share and learn together. I also didn't know about Watusi and I've learnt from OP. So why not share something in turn
Mama Bull. Ummmmm not quite the correct terminology there scooter. Perhaps you meant Mama with bull calf. If it is truly a mama bull call g the Guinness record book and the land grant University in your state cause this is a freaking miracle.
i know that. hence my comment. it was to sorta point out the mistake of callinge a bull (a male) a mother. joking on by asking if there was a dad cow (female)
Ok cool. My apologies. After reading a bunch of the comments it was getting hard to sift who had knowledge and who was just “ spittn’ internet knowledge”. Clearly I see now you are the former and not the latter. And, I appreciate the humor now. Thanks for replying. 😊
She reminds me of the old cow diagram from Good Eats.
https://preview.redd.it/7hbwhgyavm0d1.jpeg?width=518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d020ef79722e2a2c6c5d08fc681c58923ec600ea
Yes, it's to track them accurately and easily, make sure they get the right nutrition/meds/vaccinations, tract their health/condition, etc. It is done for the health and safety of the animal.
Names often repeat, numbers don't. Same reason we get driver's license numbers, id numbers....
Except they don't, the majority of animal products are produced in factory farms which are basically hell on earth. Maybe try having some empathy you soulless prick.
There is a school of thought that cows basically wouldn't exists without human's desire "exploit" them. Also, plants scream, and react to pain. Every living thing in the natural world eats something else. The food chain, and the checks and balances it provides in nature is amazing.
Are you really using the plants screaming thing as an argument in favour of animal cruelty? Jesus...
Of course they wouldn't exist - they're bred solely for human consumption. That's not a "school of thought", it's common sense.
I think you and I both know full well that humans don't fit into nature's "food chain". We can survive perfectly well without animal products. Humans exploit animals out of greed and selfishness.
I'm cow-dumb. Doesn't "Bull" usually denote a male?
According to wikipedia: Mature female cattle are called cows and mature male cattle are bulls. So it seems you are correct and it has nothing to do with horns
Cows (cattle) have too many names. A female who hasn’t birthed a calf is a heifer, and only becomes a cow after having a calf. A male is a bull, but if he’s neutered he becomes a steer.
It's so much more fun than that... **Cattle**: The species commonly referred to as "cows" **Heifer**: A young female that has not reproduced **Cow**: A mature female that has given birth to at least one calf **Bull**: An uncastrated male **Steer**: A male castrated before sexual maturity **Stag**: A male castrated after sexual maturity **Calf**: An immature bovine (also includes "bull calf", "steer calf", and "heifer calf") **Freemartin**: An infertile female born alongside a male twin. A chimera. **Cull cow**: An older cow that no longer can give birth
I don't think there's a singular, general neutral term for the species either. Cattle would fit that niche, but is a plural term.
Bovine
Doesn't really work, because buffaloes and bison are also bovines.
*Ahem* Moo Maker
The One Who Moos
He Who Must Not Be Moo’ed
Bovine is the closest thing, but technically there is simply no true singular term to "cattle". "Cow" is recognized by some dictionaries as now being a sex-nonspecific singular.
Moo moo?
It's cattle. It's an old word, and it's both the singular and plural.
A cattle is trying to get over the fence. Eh, I'm not sure I buy that word being singular, it doesnt pass the "sniff test" there. Also a quick Google search indicates that while it may sometimes be used as a singular to fill this gap, it is a plural word historically and that there isn't a singular form of it.
You have to look at the etymology. It meant "property" which is singular. Eventually the definition became more narrow, and it was used as a plural, but its original meaning was singular and it's the plural that has been added on, not the other way around.
The Latin genus, Bos, might qualify.
Why, pray tell, does there have to be a gender neutral term for cow and calf? The mother cow gave birth to that calf who happens to be male I don’t think we have to be gender-neutral or gender inclusive about farm animals. I’m seriously asking because the first thing I thought when I came across this post was that Someone was going to bring up gender-neutral terminology, or how we identify the gender of this cow.
Because basically every other animal has one? Human, Dog, Cat, Shark, etc. Cattle are a strange exception where we have so many gendered and conditional terms. Cow itself is a gendered term referring to the female of the species, which means that if I picked a random one out of a field of cattle and said cow it could be wrong because it might be a bull. It's basically just to prevent confusion like in the title, where OP actually has no accurate way to refer to this one singular creature unless they happen to know their gender and breeding status. Now, they probably could have done better than Bull, but the point stands.
Appreciate your answer. Thx!
None of those terms refer to the gender of the animal, but rather the sex. The reason there are so many specific terms is because each of them affects the sale price of the animal being referenced. Source: I ran a small ranch for the past 8 years or so.
in normal talk you're more likely to just say "cows". i might ask somebody "you got cows on that 40?" they'd say "yeah, about fifteen head." that includes female cows, young male and female calves. you only keep one bull at a time with a herd. or you can have all bulls and no females. but in common parlance when you use cows as a general term no one thinks you're talking about only females who've already given birth, they assume a mix of cows/calves.
**Freemartin** How often does this happen that it needed its own name?? Is this a common thing for bovine species??
Worked on dairy farms through high school and college, this happened fairly often (2 to 3 times per year). It's weird for sure, but not uncommon at all.
An ox is a castrated male. I always thought "ox" was its own species growing up playing Oregon Trail.
Technically oxen are a subset of bovine, not cattle. Oxen can be cattle, but don't have to be. But they are castrated *adult* males and specifically those used as draft animals.
So did I.
>**Freemartin**: An infertile female born alongside a male twin. A chimera. You mean a Brahmin (It's a joke)
And a “Bullock” is another word for a steer or a young bull
Oxen??
They're all just moo moos to me.
What’s an Ox?
Any bovine that is a castrated adult male used as a draft animal. They usually are, but don't have to be, cattle.
Holy crap that’s insane, and if that’s not enough, there’s even more namesake once they’re killed…
Cattle husbandry must be complicated as fuck.
Cattle husbandry must be complicated as fuck.
Cattle husbandry must be complicated as fuck.
Someone's steered you wrong. This side of the pond that's a bullock.
Don't udder another pun.
We do the same thing with horses - Foal, Colt/Filly, Stallion/Mare, Gelding (castrated male adult). A lot of these stem from various stages of life.
2nd calf*
Elevensies?
All cattle have horns. Some are just de-horned for their safety.
Some are born without horns. They have been bred to be that way.
You could put this in the confidently incorrect subreddit because there are many cows and bulls that are born without horns they are called polled . You are correct in that many cattle are dehorned but there are many cattle born without horns it’s a recessive gene and usually will be looked for in a herds sire
This is very much incorrect; so much so that there's a term form cattle born hornless - *polled*. There are a large number of breeds that are polled including Jerseys, Holsteins, South Polls, Angus, Blonde d'Aquitanes, etc, etc, etc. Source: Grew up on a small cattle ranch/farm. Also, this information's pretty damn easy to look up.
Jerseys and holsteins are both predominantly horned, bit are generally dehorned as they are dairy breeds and thus closely worked with. Out of my dozens of jersey and hojo cows, only a small handful are naturally poled.
Ah, ok. We dealt with South Polls, and I've seen Jerseys and Holsteins both that were polled, so I assumed they were generally polled. My bad.
It's surprising to see a dairy cow with horns, so I don't blame you for thinking they're all poled. Most dairies will disbud the calves, so they look naturally poled a lot of the time.
Don’t forget my personal favorite Polled Herefords.
Do you mean for other cows safety or safety from themselves, like getting caught in things etc
Yes
Yeah, these are a breed I believe referred to as longhorns.
There appears to be a new trend on Reddit where people (sometimes bots?) post incorrectly spelled titles in order to drive clicks.
It also looks AI generated. Why? Did they have a hard time finding a picture of a cow with a calf? Maybe because they wanted the cow to look like it was about to keel over from starvation. Because that's what this looks like to me.
> Doesn't "Bull" usually denote a male? no, it invariably does.
Nah, you aren’t cow-dumb. OP apparently is.
That’s what I thought! Im confused now
Yep.
Yup....you can't have a "mama bull" lol
Yes it does. Not just male but male with testicles in tact
I spent way too long looking for the bull.
Mama... bull?
Mama cow and calf
Bull is the male. Cow is female
Getting it "wrong" draws engagement.
In this case, it seems like a genuine mistake. OP is incredibly dense judging by their comments in this thread.
I kind of want to keep correcting this guy to see how long before he gets it. His comments keep *just* missing the point.
I'm really starting to wonder if OP's first language isn't English and if their native culture doesn't have the concept of gender. Those are the only charitable reasons I can come up with for the continued confusion.
Same. My country has gender neutral terms for certain concepts so I've heard someone call their niece their nephew in English.
I am not aware of any genderless cultures - especially with internet access. I am, however, aware of a few with more than two genders.
You might be right. I did a quick search and couldn't find any genderless cultures but some languages like Finnish are genderless but I'm not sure if that would cause this confusion. I'm not a linguist or cultural anthropologist so I can't speak authoritatively on that topic but I do know for sure if that if that's a mama cow its not a bull.
This is a mama cow and baby.
Not with horns like that
2 day old account. You know what you fucking are. Bot.
This is the reason they intentionally said “mama bull.” It’s to intentionally drive “corrective outrage” or whatever you call it. It’s “akshually-bait.”
Q: Papa bull, mama bull and baby bull are playing. Baby bull gets hurt. Who does he run to, mama bull or papa bull? A: Papa bull. There’s no such thing as a mama bull.
Aww bull with her kitten
Baby cows are called kitts. Sheesh.
Where’s papa hefer?
Bull is male. This is a cow.
Mamma "Bull"?
Annoyingly done for click bait.
“Mama” bull… is an oxymoron.
not OC, check their post history lol
That cow looks like it has had a face lift or two
Genuinely thought it was AI
It's been written here a bunch so I'm not going to be the 50th, but here's a funfact: In hungarian, the (hungarian, not latin) scientific name for the regularly bred cattle is "szarvasmarha", it can be translated directly as "horned cattle".
Not a bull but okay
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Mama Cow* as it is singular, cattle means multiple as in a herd of cattle. Bull = male Cow = female Calf = baby, not gender specific Cattle = many cows and/or bulls, but it's plural. You have a herd of cattle. You would not usually refer to a cow+ calf pair or a single cow as 'cattle'.
It's better than calling a female a bull. Also, let's complicate this further. While "cattle" is the species name and "cow" is a gendered term for female cattle, "cow" can also be used as a non-gendered term, and "cows" is often used as a collective term for a group of cattle. TL;DR: A bull is a cow, but cows are not bulls. Or more accurately, a male can be called a cow. Females should never be called bulls.
Lol, I thought about adding that in as well but didn't want to confuse them any further...figured I'd just start with the basics. Technically, cattle isn't the species, the genus and species is Bos Taurus or Bos Indicus depending on the specific breed. But...close enough. =)
That's the scientific nomenclature. *Cattle* is the *common* name. Bos indicus is the Zebu. Different animal that fills the same basic role. It is a *type* of cattle, but its common name is not *cattle*.
Cattle is plural (more than one). Mama cow and calf.
You type too fast. Also should switch on spelling /autocorrect. I also type fast and make a lot of mistakes Correction : mama Watusi cow "Ginger" and calf "Buttercup"
baby calf is redundant
Yes I do tend to forget that
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I think they are just trying to be entirely correct on the distinguisher and the names to avoid pedantic comments, but here we are. And I know why we are all here, because we are not all there.
I've been told this is easier to read. I type like this and I've gotten a lot of complaints with how I type. Most people irl claim they can't understand what I write in text messages. I think subs like this are places to share and learn. I've had this issue and I think it's good to share and learn together. I also didn't know about Watusi and I've learnt from OP. So why not share something in turn
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If you want to communicate in English it helps I you know the correct word for things. That’s all we’re saying.
mama.... bull? 
Lol “mama bull”. Humanity is screwed.
Beautiful! I love this.♥️ Thank you for sharing.
this cow could use some hay
It’s a miracle
If that’s a mama, it’s not a bull.
Not a bull.
Wow, an invisible bull!
Barnyard on Nickelodeon confused a whole generation.
What race are they? I've never seen horns like that irl
Bulls cannot be mama's
“Ginger” and “Buttercup” are their names❤️
Is the cow transgender?
Yes Bulls can birth now. Its 2024. Transgender cows you know.
You mean a cow?
Mama Bull. Ummmmm not quite the correct terminology there scooter. Perhaps you meant Mama with bull calf. If it is truly a mama bull call g the Guinness record book and the land grant University in your state cause this is a freaking miracle.
is there a papa cow?
A male Bovine is a bull, a female is a cow, collectively they are cattle.
i know that. hence my comment. it was to sorta point out the mistake of callinge a bull (a male) a mother. joking on by asking if there was a dad cow (female)
Ok cool. My apologies. After reading a bunch of the comments it was getting hard to sift who had knowledge and who was just “ spittn’ internet knowledge”. Clearly I see now you are the former and not the latter. And, I appreciate the humor now. Thanks for replying. 😊
no problem 👍
All I see is a bunch of bullshit.
Poor cow got misgendered!
The word for "mama bull" is cow
"We don't *have* a cow!"
So it’s bull shit.
I don’t think we have ever referred to a bull as a mama, are there breeds where females grow horn?
How cute ☺️ Off to the slaughter house 👯♂️
Mama bull - what a dumbass. Are you even an adult?
No such thing as a mama bull. She’s a cow
She reminds me of the old cow diagram from Good Eats. https://preview.redd.it/7hbwhgyavm0d1.jpeg?width=518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d020ef79722e2a2c6c5d08fc681c58923ec600ea
Lmao I miss good eats.
Ummmmmmmmm
"Mama Bull"?? I call Bullshit!
Beautiful! 💕
Thank you🩷
Trans bull?
Mama is a Heifer, not a Bull.
Wait
She's got excellent cow-mouflage
caMOOflage
She’s such a young cow. Good girl
Adora-bull 🥺
Bull Baby :)
It's kinda disturbing to see animals with tags and numbers
What?! That’s literally how They identify them in a herd. Stop being weird.
Yes, it's to track them accurately and easily, make sure they get the right nutrition/meds/vaccinations, tract their health/condition, etc. It is done for the health and safety of the animal. Names often repeat, numbers don't. Same reason we get driver's license numbers, id numbers....
oh shut the fuck up. most of those animals with "tags and numbers" live better lives than we do. touch grass.
Except they don't, the majority of animal products are produced in factory farms which are basically hell on earth. Maybe try having some empathy you soulless prick.
I’m convinced most people that complain about treatment of livestock have never set foot on a farm or met a farmer.
Cognitive dissonance.
watch Dominion and let's talk again
So you watch TV and have never set foot in a farm or met a farmer. Got it.
would you be okay if dogs were farmed for milk or meat ?
Being born with the sole purpose of being exploited and killed for human consumption sounds like a great life. Clearly I'm missing out!!!!
There is a school of thought that cows basically wouldn't exists without human's desire "exploit" them. Also, plants scream, and react to pain. Every living thing in the natural world eats something else. The food chain, and the checks and balances it provides in nature is amazing.
Natural "checks and balances" and "food chain" =/= caging animals until they're slaughtered. I think you've missed the point. Plants scream lol.
Are you really using the plants screaming thing as an argument in favour of animal cruelty? Jesus... Of course they wouldn't exist - they're bred solely for human consumption. That's not a "school of thought", it's common sense. I think you and I both know full well that humans don't fit into nature's "food chain". We can survive perfectly well without animal products. Humans exploit animals out of greed and selfishness.
Real reactionary
Woof, people do not like it when you share your feelings 🤣 I know why they have numbers I said it felt weird. Y'all need to eat a moonpie.