What is heifer and how does it differ from a cow? We explain the common farming term. <\/p>
Ever heard the word ‘heifer’ and wondered what it meant? It may not sound much like a cow, but that’s what it is \u2013 a member of the bovine family. <\/strong><\/p> Or, to be more precise, a heifer is a female cow, beef or dairy, that hasn’t given birth to a calf. Actually, that’s not quite right either… <\/p> Technically, a heifer isn’t a cow until it has given birth<\/a>. Only once they have dropped their calf are upgraded to a cow.<\/p> Female calves are known as ‘heifer calves’ and a pregnant heifer is called a ‘bred heifer’, while one that is about to give birth is called – rather aptly – a ‘springing heifer’. They usually give birth to their first calf when they are two years old. <\/p> The gestation period is about the same as a human \u2013 nine months \u2013\u00a0and heifers and cows usually give birth to just one calf, although twins are known. <\/p> If it’s a dairy heifer giving birth, the calf is usually removed from its mother within 24 hours; if it’s a beef calf, it stays with its mother until it’s weaned at about six months.<\/p> The word heifer is pronounced ‘heff-er’.<\/p> Main image: beef heifer\/Credit: Getty<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n What is heifer and how does it differ from a cow? We explain the common farming term. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38633,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow.jpg",1999,1499,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow-1024x768.jpg",800,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow-1536x1152.jpg",1536,1152,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/07\/what-is-a-heifer-why-a-heifer-isnt-a-cow.jpg",1999,1499,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"What is heifer and how does it differ from a cow? We explain the common farming term.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/38632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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