Calf
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2008-07-08T20:27:47Z
65.117.46.130
added horns
{{for|the anatomical feature|calf muscle}}
[[Image:Weaner sale.JPG|thumb|300px|Recently weaned beef bred calves at a weaner sale.]]
[[Image:Hereford Calf Portrait, SC, Vic, 13.10.2007 edit.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Hereford (cattle)|Hereford]] calf in [[Australia]]]]
A '''calf''' ([[plural]] ''calves'') is the young of various species of [[mammal]]. The term is most commonly used to refer to the young of [[cattle]]. The young of [[bison]], [[camel]]s, [[dolphin]]s, [[elephant]]s, [[giraffe]]s, [[hippopotamus]]es, [[moose]], [[rhinoceros]]es, [[whale]]s, [[seal]]s and [[yak]]s are also called calves. Calves typically do not have horns.
A calf is the term used for the [[offspring]] of a [[cattle|cow]] and a [[cattle|bull]] or other [[bovine]] species until it is weaned. This terminology is also usually common to other species where the young is called a calf. A calf that has lost its mother is referred to as a ''dogie'', poddy or poddy-calf.
The birth of a calf is ''calving''. The term ''calving'' is also applied in geology to the breaking off of a mass of ice from its parent glacier, iceberg, or ice shelf.
==Human uses==
Calf meat offered for [[human]] consumption is called [[veal]]. Fine calf skin used for [[page (paper)|page]]s in early [[codices]] is called [[vellum]]. The fourth compartment of the stomach of slaughtered milk-fed calves is the source of [[rennet]]. Calves feed from their mother's [[udder]] for a few weeks before eating solid food.
Calf leather is particularly valuable because of its softness, and fine grain. It is commonly used for the construction of high-end/high-quality shoes.
==Male Bos Taurus Calves==
[[Castrated]] male calves are called [[steer]]s. They are called steers also when full grown. A male calf that has not been [[castrated]] is called a bull or bull calf. Also in its adulthood the male [[Bos taurus]] is called a bull. The word calf is a general name used to describe any bovine until it is [[weaned]], then it becomes known as a weaner. A steer or bull calf should put on about 70-80 pounds per month. A 9 month old steer or bull should weigh about 550-600 pounds.
==Female Bos Taurus Calves==
Female calves are called [[heifer]]s. They should weigh at least 450 lb. at 8 months old. At about 12 months old a beef heifer reaches puberty if she is well grown.<ref>Cole, V.G., BVSc., "Beef Production Guide", Macarthur Press, Parramatta, 1978</ref> After she has given birth to a calf then she will be recognized as a [[cow]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Cattle]]
*[[Cow]]
*[[Bull]]
*[[Dairy cow]]
*[[Steer]]
*[[Heifer]]
*[[Farming]]
*[[Milking]]
*[[Lactation]]
*[[Dairy]]
*[[Sacred cow]]
==External links==
[[Image:Cow with calf dsc06514.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A suckling calf with its mother]]
*[http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3451 Calving] on ''Ropin' the Web'', Agriculture and Food, Government of Alberta, Canada
{{Commons|Calf|Calf}}
[[Category:Cattle]]
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