Cow Reproduction
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The average cow is 2 years old when she has her first calf.
Calves are fed from the cow until they are between 8 and 9 weeks old. It is essential for a calf to be fed their mother's milk from the start as it contains antibodies that protect the new calf from diseases.
Two months before giving birth, a dairy cow takes a rest from giving milk in order to grow her calf.
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During this period the cow is known as a Dry Cow. When a dairy cow gives birth, this process is called a freshening. All calves are born with horn nubs. It is common for a vet to remove these nowadays.
A young female calf is called a heifer, she is called this until she has her first calf.
A young male is called a bull calf.
Did you know that cows never forget their calves. It is quite common to see them licking their grown calves just as they did when they were young.
How to determine the age of a cow
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The age of a cow is determined by examination of the teeth and less perfectly by the horns. The temporary teeth are in part erupted at birth and all the incisors are erupted within twenty days.
The first, second and third pairs of temporary molars are erupted in thirty days. The teeth have grown large enough to touch each other by the sixth month. They gradually wear and fall in eighteen months. The fourth permanent molars are through at around the fourth month. The fifth at the fifteenth month and the sixth at two years. The temporary teeth begin to fall at twenty-one months and are entirely replaced by the thirty-ninth to the forty-fifth month.
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