View source for Calf (animal)

{{Short description|Young of domestic cattle}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Poddy Calf sitting in the long grass.jpg|thumb|Poddy calf sitting in the long grass]]
A '''calf''' ({{plural form}}: '''calves''') is a young domestic [[cow]] or [[bull]]. Calves are reared to become adult cattle or are slaughtered for their meat, called [[veal]], and their [[calfskin|hide]].
The term ''calf'' is also used for some other species. See "[[#Other animals|Other animals]]"[https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/calf#:~:text=Cattle%20are%20not%20the%20only,reindeer%2C%20rhinoceros%2C%20and%20yak.] below.
== Terminology ==
[[File:Cow giving birth, in Laos (step by step).jpg|thumb|Calving (step by step)]]
<!-- "Poddy calf" redirects to this section heading. If this heading changes please also change the redirect to reflect this. TIA. -->
"Calf" is the term used from birth to [[weaning]], when it becomes known as a ''[[weaner]]'' or ''weaner calf'', though in some areas the term "calf" may be used until the animal is a [[wikt:yearling|yearling]]. The birth of a calf is known as ''calving''. A calf that has lost its mother is an orphan calf, also known as a ''poddy'' or ''poddy-calf'' in British. ''Bobby calves'' are young calves which are to be slaughtered for human consumption.<ref name="Mac">{{cite book |title= The Macquarie Dictionary |year=1991|publisher= Macquarie Library |location=North Ryde }}</ref> A ''vealer'' is a calf weighing less than about {{Convert|330|kg|lb|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} which is at about eight to nine months of age.<ref>The Land, Rural Press, North Richmond, NSW, 7 August 2008</ref> A young female calf from birth until she has had a calf of her own is called a ''heifer''<ref>{{cite dictionary| url = http://webster.com/dictionary/heifer| title = Definition of heifer| access-date = 2006-11-29| dictionary = Merriam-Webster| archive-date = 2008-12-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081202111216/http://www.webster.com/dictionary/heifer}}</ref>
({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛ|f|ər}}). In the [[American Old West]], a motherless or small, runty calf was sometimes referred to as a dodie<!--can someone do IPA for that?-->.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer01arie/page/114 <!-- quote=dodie calf. --> Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, and  Joan Houston Hall.  ''Dictionary of American Regional English'']. {{ISBN|0-674-20511-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-674-20511-6}} Referenced via Internet Archive June 4, 2009</ref>{{Failed verification|date=August 2022|reason=can't find the word in the referenced dictionary}}
The term "calf" is also used for some other species. See "[[#Other animals|Other animals]]" below.
== Early development ==
[[File:Veau nouveau-nébis.jpg|thumb|Newborn calf.]]
[[File:Embryo transfered calves.JPG|thumb|[[Charolais cattle|Charolais]] calves which were transferred, as embryos, into their [[Aberdeen Angus]] and Hereford recipient mothers.]]
Calves may be produced by natural means, or by artificial breeding using [[artificial insemination]] or [[embryo transfer]].<ref name="Friend">Friend, John B., Cattle of the World, Blandford Press, Dorset, 1978, {{ISBN|0-7137-0856-5}}</ref>
Calves are born after nine months. They usually stand within a few minutes of calving, and suckle within an hour. However, for the first few days they are not easily able to keep up with the rest of the herd, so young calves are often left hidden by their mothers, who visit them several times a day to suckle them. By a week old the calf is able to follow the mother all the time.
Some calves are [[ear tag]]ged soon after birth, especially those that are [[Stud_(animal)|stud cattle]] in order to correctly identify their dams (mothers), or in areas (such as the [[European Union|EU]]) where tagging is a legal requirement for cattle. Typically when the calves are about two months old they are branded, ear marked, castrated and [[vaccinate]]d.
== Calf rearing systems ==
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The ''single suckler'' system of rearing calves is similar to that occurring naturally in wild cattle, where each calf is suckled by its own mother until it is weaned at about nine months old. This system is commonly used for rearing [[beef cattle]] throughout the world.
Cows kept on poor forage (as is typical in [[subsistence farming]]) produce a limited amount of milk. A calf left with such a mother all the time can easily drink all the milk, leaving none for human consumption. For dairy production under such circumstances, the calf's access to the cow must be limited, for example by penning the calf and bringing the mother to it once a day after partly milking her. The small amount of milk available for the calf under such systems may mean that it takes a longer time to rear, and in subsistence farming it is therefore common for cows to calve only in alternate years.
In more intensive [[dairy farming]], cows can easily be bred and fed to produce far more milk than one calf can drink. In the ''multi-suckler'' system, several calves are fostered onto one cow in addition to her own, and these calves' mothers can then be used wholly for milk production. More commonly, calves of dairy cows are fed formula milk from soon after birth, usually from a bottle or bucket.
Purebred female calves of [[Dairy cattle|dairy cows]] are reared as replacement dairy cows. Most purebred dairy calves are produced by artificial insemination (AI). By this method each bull can serve many cows, so only a very few of the purebred dairy male calves are needed to provide bulls for breeding. The remainder of the male calves may be reared for beef or veal.  Only a proportion of purebred heifers are needed to provide replacement cows, so often some of the cows in dairy herds are put to a beef bull to produce crossbred calves suitable for rearing as beef.
Veal calves may be reared entirely on milk formula and killed at about 18 or 20 weeks as "white" veal, or fed on grain and hay and killed at 22 to 35 weeks to produce red or pink veal.
== Growth ==
[[File:Vaca.JPG|thumb|[[Ear tag]]ged calf and cow in [[Andorra]].]]
[[File:Calf suckling at a meadow near Vrachesh, Bulgaria.webm|thumb|Video of calf suckling in [[Bulgaria]]]]
A commercial steer or bull calf is expected to put on about {{Convert|32|to|36|kg|lb|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} per month. A nine-month-old steer or bull is therefore expected to weigh about {{Convert|250|to|270|kg|lb|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. Heifers will weigh at least {{Convert|200|kg|lb|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} at eight months of age.
[[File:Baby Cow (Age 150 days).jpg|thumb|150 days old calf]]
Calves are usually weaned at about eight to nine months of age, but depending on the season and condition of the dam, they might be weaned earlier. They may be paddock weaned, often next to their mothers, or weaned in [[Feedlot|stockyards]]. The latter system is preferred by some as it accustoms the [[weaner]]s to the presence of people and they are trained to take feed other than grass.<ref name="Cole">{{cite book |last= Cole B.V.Sc. |first= V.G. |title= Beef Production Guide |publisher= Macarthur Press, Parramatta |year= 1978 |isbn= 0-9599973-1-8}}</ref> Small numbers may also be weaned with their dams with the use of weaning [[nose ring (animals)|nose rings]] or nosebands which results in the mothers rejecting the calves' attempts to suckle. Many calves are also weaned when they are taken to the large weaner [[auction]] sales that are conducted in the south eastern states of Australia. Victoria and [[New South Wales]] have {{not a typo|yardings}} (sale yard numbers) of up to 8,000 weaners (calves) for [[auction]] sale in one day.<ref>The Land, 16 April 2009, "CTLX Carcoar Blue Ribbon Weaner Sale", p. 13, Rural Press, North Richmond</ref> The best of these weaners may go to the butchers. Others will be purchased by re-stockers to grow out and fatten on grass or as potential breeders. In the United States these weaners may be known as ''feeders'' and would be placed directly into [[feedlot]]s.
At about 12 months old a beef heifer reaches puberty if she is well grown.<ref name="Cole" />
== Diseases ==
Calves suffer from few congenital abnormalities but the [[Akabane virus]] is widely distributed in [[temperate]] to [[Tropics|tropical]] regions of the world. The virus is a teratogenic pathogen which causes spontaneous [[abortion]]s, stillbirths, premature births and congenital abnormalities, but occurs only during some years.
Calves commonly face on-farm acquired diseases, often of infectious nature. Preweaned calves most commonly experience conditions such as diarrhea, omphalitis, lameness and respiratory diseases. Diarrhea, omphalitis and lameness are most common in calves aged up to two weeks, while the frequency of respiratory diseases tends to increase with age. These conditions also display seasonal patterns, with omphalitis being more common in the summer months, and respiratory diseases and diarrhea occurring more frequently in the fall.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dachrodt |first1=L. |last2=Arndt |first2=H. |last3=Bartel |first3=A. |last4=Kellermann |first4=L.M. |last5=Tautenhahn |first5=A. |last6=Volkmann |first6=M. |last7=Birnstiel |first7=K. |last8=Do Duc |first8=P. |last9=Hentzsch |first9=A. |last10=Jensen |first10=K.C. |last11=Klawitter |first11=M. |last12=Paul |first12=P. |last13=Stoll |first13=A. |last14=Woudstra |first14=S. |last15=Zuz |first15=P. |last16=Knubben |first16=G. |last17=Metzner|first17=M. |last18=Müller |first18=K.E. |last19=Merle |first19=R. |last20=Hoedemaker |first20=M. |date=2021-05-10 |title=Prevalence of disorders in preweaned dairy calves from 731 dairies in Germany: A cross-sectional study |journal=Journal of Dairy Science |language=en |volume=104 |issue=8 |pages=9037–9051 |doi=10.3168/jds.2021-20283|pmid=33985777 |s2cid=234495803 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dachrodt |first1=Linda |last2=Bartel |first2=Alexander |last3=Arndt |first3=Heidi |last4=Kellermann |first4=Laura Maria |last5=Stock |first5=Annegret |last6=Volkmann |first6=Maria |last7=Boeker |first7=Andreas Robert |last8=Birnstiel |first8=Katrin |last9=Do Duc |first9=Phuong |last10=Klawitter |first10=Marcus |last11=Paul |first11=Philip |last12=Stoll |first12=Alexander |last13=Woudstra |first13=Svenja |last14=Knubben-Schweizer |first14=Gabriela |last15=Müller |first15=Kerstin Elisabeth |last16=Hoedemaker |first16=M. |date=2022-09-23 |title=Benchmarking calf health: Assessment tools for dairy herd health consultancy based on reference values from 730 German dairies with respect to seasonal, farm type, and herd size effects |journal=Frontiers in Veterinary Science |volume=9 |page=990798 |doi=10.3389/fvets.2022.990798 |issn=2297-1769 |pmc=9539667 |pmid=36213417 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Uses ==
Calf meat for [[human]] consumption is called [[veal]], and is usually produced from the male calves of [[dairy cattle]].  Also eaten are [[calf's brains]] and [[calf liver]]. The [[Hide (skin)|hide]] is used to make [[calfskin]], or tanned into leather and called calf leather, or sometimes in the US "novillo", the Spanish term. The fourth compartment of the stomach of slaughtered milk-fed calves is the source of [[rennet]]. The [[intestine]] is used to make [[Goldbeater's skin]], and is the source of [[Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIP)]].
Dairy heifers and cows can only produce milk after having calved. Dairy cows need to produce one calf each year in order to remain in milk production. Heifer (female) calves will nearly always become a replacement dairy cow. Some dairy heifers grow up to be mothers of beef cattle. Male dairy calves are generally reared for beef or veal; relatively few are kept for use as breeding stock.
== Other animals ==
{{See also|List of animal names}}
In [[English language|English]], the term "calf" is used by extension for the young of various other large species of [[mammal]]. In addition to other [[Bovinae|bovid]] species (such as [[bison]], [[yak]] and [[water buffalo]]), these include the young of [[camel]]s, [[dolphin]]s, [[elephant]]s, [[giraffe]]s, [[hippopotamus]]es, [[deer]] (such as [[moose]], [[elk]] (wapiti) and [[red deer]]), [[rhinoceros]]es, [[porpoise]]s, [[whale]]s, [[walrus]]es and larger [[Pinniped|seals]]. (Generally, the adult males of these same species are called "bulls" and the adult females "cows".) However, common domestic species tend to have their own specific names, such as lamb, [[foal]] used for all ''[[Equidae]]'', or piglet used for all [[suidae]].
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Calves|calves}}
{{Wikiquote|calves}}
{{Wiktionary|calf|calve|calves}}
*[https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/beef-cattle/husbandry/general-management/weaning-beef-calves Weaning-beef-calves]
*[http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3451 Calving] on ''Ropin' the Web'', Agriculture and Food, Government of Alberta, Canada
*[http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/MF2753.pdf Winter Feeding Sites and Calf Scours, Kansas State University]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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[[Category:Cattle]]
[[Category:Vertebrate developmental biology]]
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