Livestock Terminology

General Terms

Breed - a group of animals that, as a result of breeding and selection, have certain distinguishable characteristics
Breeding animal- livestock bred and raised to be included in a breeding program
Dam - a female parent
Flock - is a grouping of a species of livestock (sheep, poultry)
Herd - a group of a single species of animal (cattle, horses, swine, goats)
Livestock - domestic farm animals kept for productive purposes (meat, milk, work, wool)
Market animal - livestock bred and raised for food consumption
Polled - a naturally hornless animal
Sire - a male parent
Litter - multiple offspring produced at one birth by a multiparous mammal. Also calledbrood.

Chickens

Cattle

Goats

Caprine - refers to animals in the goat family
Kid - a young goat
Wether - a castrated male goat
Doe - (aka. nanny) a female goat
Buck - (aka. billy) a sexually mature male goat
Popular Products - milk,* cabrito,** mohair and cashmere.
*Goats are the number one producer of milk in the world.
** Goat meat has many different names that depend on the goats geographic location and age of the animal.

Pigs

Sheep

Ovine - the scientific name for sheep
Ewe - a female sheep
Lamb - a sheep less than one year in age
Ram - a male sheep
Wether - a castrated male sheep
Popular Products - lamb,* mutton,* hogget,* and wool
*The meat from sheep has different names depending on how old the sheep is. Lamb meat coming from a sheep under one year of age, an adolescent sheep above the age of one is known as hogget and mutton comes from an adult sheep.

Turkeys

Horse

Equine - name of the family that includes horses, donkeys and zebras
Foal - an animal in the equine family, of either sex, that is one year old or younger
Colt - a male horse under the age of four
Filly - a female horse under the age of four
Gelding - a castrated animal of the equine family
Pony - a maturehorsethat measures less than 14.2hands
Mare - an adult female hores
Stallion - an adult male horse
Draft Horse - a largehorsebred for hard, heavy tasks such asploughingandfarmlabor
Hand - a non-SI unit of measurement that equals four inches

Donkey & Mule

Foal - an animal in the equine family, of either sex, that is one year old or younger
Jenny - a female donkey
Jack - a male donkey
Mule - is the offspring of a maledonkeyand afemale horse
Donkey - a domesticated animal of the equine family primarily used as a working animal

Rabbit

Llamas

5/22/2013

2/26/2013

2/8/2013