What are the characteristics of a cow?

Cattle tend to be stocky with long, rectangular bodies. Beef cattle are more muscular; dairy cattle have a truer rectangular shape. Zebu cattle (Bos indicus) are called humped cattle; each specimen has a hump over its shoulders. The head is small relative to body size; it has a long, straight snout.

What are 3 traits used in dairy cattle selection?

Reproduction, longevity and health traits are used in a number of breeding programmes for dairy and beef cattle, and there is growing interest in behavioral traits associated with animal welfare and ease of management.

How do you identify a dairy cow?

Permanent methods include tattoos (ear, udder, and escutcheon), color sketches, photo- graphs, and brands (acid, caustic, hot iron, and freeze). With the exception of the brands, these are generally used in conjunction with other methods of marking to facilitate rapid on-the- spot identification.

What makes a dairy cow different?

Dairy cattle breeds have been bred over hundreds of years to produce large amounts of milk. This is their key difference from beef breeds, as they produce milk in excess of what their calf needs.

What physical characteristics are important for dairy cows?

Breed Characteristics- overall style and balance. Head should be feminine, clean-cut, slightly dished with broad muzzle, large open nostrils, and a strong jaw is desirable. Rump, Stature, and Front End receive primary consideration when evaluating Frame. The physical evidence of milking ability is evaluated.

How do you pick a good dairy cow?

Look for a wide but medium sized udder that does not hang loosely. The teats that point downwards and are spaced evenly makes milking easy. Strong legs and feet enable a cow to feed and walk comfortably especially when pregnant. Choose a cow with straight legs but wide apart when observed from behind or the front.

What are the characteristics of dairy animals?

A cow with good dairy character is one who is sharp, particularly at the shoulders and withers, and one who shows no excess flesh or fat. A long, lean neck showing refinement and not coarseness is desirable. Thickness at the shoulders, neck, withers or thighs indicates a lack of dairy character.

How are dairy cows different from beef cows?

Dairy cows are used for milk production and are always female. They can only produce milk if they’ve had a calf. Beef cattle can be male or female and are used for meat consumption. Before a cow has her first calf, she’s known as a heifer.

Can any cow be a dairy cow?

As for the milk, it doesn’t matter what the color or breed of the cow is, because all cows produce the milk that goes into your favorite dairy products.

What are the major performance traits that should be considered when selecting beef cattle?

Major Performance Traits for Beef Cattle
  • Reproductive Performance or Fertility.
  • Maternal Ability.
  • Growth Rate.
  • Feed Efficiency.
  • Body Measurements.
  • Longevity.
  • Carcass Merit.
  • Conformation or Structural Soundness.

What are traits that farmers might want to select for when breeding cows?

Traits include calving ease, birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, marbling, rib eye area, maternal milk and many more. Unlike predicted transmitting abilities (PTA’s) that are used for dairy animals, the average for every trait is NOT zero.

What is the most important trait for beef cattle to have Why?

Udder Soundness

One of the most important functional traits of a beef cow is udder and teat conformation, and they appear to be heritable.

What are the characteristics of dairy animals?

A cow with good dairy character is one who is sharp, particularly at the shoulders and withers, and one who shows no excess flesh or fat. A long, lean neck showing refinement and not coarseness is desirable. Thickness at the shoulders, neck, withers or thighs indicates a lack of dairy character.

What is the most important trait when selecting breeding heifers?

Heifers should be selected on structural soundness, be in good health and have good growth potential. Generally, evaluating your production records are helpful in determining growth potential and identifying the calves that are from above average producing cows.

What are the characteristics considered during selection of cow or heifer for breeding?

Good performance of animal indicated by;

High milk, wool and egg production, Good mothering ability. High prepotency which is the ability of a parent to pass good qualities to their offsprings. The animals with poor performance should be culled.

What is the basic concept of dairy cattle production?

What is the basic concept of cattle production? Dairy production is based on the cow producing a quality milk product. That requires the cow to be bred for lactation to occur. Most milk production systems have large numbers of cows that are producing milk for around 305 days.

How can you tell a good heifer?

Pick heifers that look feminine rather than blocky, coarse and masculine. You don’t want a heifer that looks like a steer; her endocrine balance may be off and there’s more chance she’ll come up open. You also don’t want a heifer that’s extremely long-necked or too short-necked, which makes her look like a male.

How do you pick a good heifer?

The heifer needs to have long-tying muscle shape and dimension, and not be just one-dimensional or flat. The next selection criteria for a show heifer is balance and eye appeal – you want her to look like a lady. “She should have a feminine shape to her head and neck and be clean through her throat.