Cattle are relativly new to the domestic animal scene, only showing up around 6,500 B.C. By this time dogs, pigs, and sheep had already been domesticated. Most modern cattle are descended from the species auroch, and are used for their meat ('beef'), milk, and leather. In common usage cattle are usually referred to as cows, although technically 'cow' refers to only the female of the species. The male is a bull, and the young a calf.

This is an incomplete list of cattle breeds, and it will be quite a while before they are all noded--I do not plan on doing all of it myself. Feel free to chip in.

Beef Cattle
Ankole Watusi
Angus
Amerifax
Barzona
Beefalo
Beefmaster
Belgian Blue
Belted Galloway
Braford
Brahman
Brangus
Braunvieh
British White
Blonde D'Aquitaine
Cash
Charolais
Chianina
Corriente
Devon
Dexter
Galloway
Gelbvieh
Hereford (including Polled Hereford)
Piedmontese
Limousin
Maine-Anjou
Marchigiana
Murray Grey
N'Dama
Normande
Norwegian Red
Pinzgauer
Red Angus
Red Brangus
Red Polled
Romagnola
RX3
Salers
Santa Gertrudis
Senepol
Scotch Highland
Shorthorn
Simbrah
Simmental, Simmertaler or German Fleckvieh
South Devon
Tarentaise
Texas Longhorn
Wagyu
White Park
Zebu

Dairy Cattle
Ayrshire
Brown Swiss
Canadienne
Dutch Belted
Guernsey
Holstein (Holstein-Friesian)
Jersey
Kerry
Milking Devon
Milking Shorthorn
Norwegian Red


http://ops.agsci.colostate.edu/~scomstoc/breeds.html
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
http://www.cattlepages.com/listings.asp<*>

Cattle is a rather general term, applied to large groups (herds) of the animals. But sometimes you really need to know exactly what to call that particular bovine beast whose mooing is making you lose sleep. Try these:

Calf - a young bovine of either sex; this term is used if said beast is young enough that it hasn't yet been weaned. An infant, in other words.

Cow - an adult female and only an adult female, common usage to the contrary.

Bull - an adult male that has survived adolescence with its testicles intact; an uncastrated male.

Ox - an adult male that has been castrated. More generally, any bovine used to pull a cart, plow, etc., as opposed to the horses usually conscripted for such tasks.

Heifer - a young female, or a female that has not given birth.

Steer - a young male that has been castrated.

Bullock - a young male that has not.

Cat"tle (?), n. pl. [OE. calet, chatel, goods, property, OF. catel, chatel, LL. captale, capitale, goods, property, esp. cattle, fr. L. capitals relating to the head, chief; because in early ages beasts constituted the chief part of a man's property. See Capital, and cf. Chattel.]

Quadrupeds of the Bovine family; sometimes, also, including all domestic quadrupeds, as sheep, goats, horses, mules, asses, and swine.

Belted cattle, Black cattle. See under Belted, Black. -- Cattle guard, a trench under a railroad track and alongside a crossing (as of a public highway). It is intended to prevent cattle from getting upon the track. -- cattle louse Zool., any species of louse infecting cattle. There are several species. The Haematatopinus eurysternus and H. vituli are common species which suck blood; Trichodectes scalaris eats the hair. -- Cattle plague, the rinderpest; called also Russian cattle plague. -- Cattle range, ∨ Cattle run, an open space through which cattle may run or range. [U. S.] Bartlett. -- Cattle show, an exhibition of domestic animals with prizes for the encouragement of stock breeding; -- usually accompanied with the exhibition of other agricultural and domestic products and of implements.

 

© Webster 1913.

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