Kooky-Cry-4088 t1_j6kqzgw wrote
Reply to comment by Ok-Table-3774 in TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe
Most freemartin calves are not euthanized, in fact none are nor should be unless other congenital/genetic defect exist such as PHA, cleft palate etc. They are fed and harvested as beef. No ovarian hormone production so actually feed similar to a steer. I’m specifically a bovine veterinarian in the heart of cattle country.
huntingteacher25 t1_j6md12n wrote
Agree. Had one a few years ago. She put on weight like a steer and was a fine animal.
RichardSaunders t1_j6mgigz wrote
for deer as a species, there's the word deer, regardless of whether it's a buck or a doe. is there an equivalent term for a single bos taurus? my great uncle called them "bossies" (bah-sees), but i reckon he just made that up based on the latin.
[deleted] t1_j6l6en2 wrote
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Ok-Table-3774 t1_j6ogp1g wrote
That good to hear! We were told otherwise at the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab when I worked there. It made me pretty sad.
_ManMadeGod_ t1_j6mr03h wrote
"harvested for beef" is a weird way of saying "fattened up so we can tear flesh from bone"
Jesus Christ these creatures are sentient.
Raichu7 t1_j6li5gt wrote
If you’re raising dairy cattle rather than beef what good is a cow who can’t get pregnant? I doubt all freemartin calves are kept.
iammada t1_j6ljm2g wrote
If only cattle could be bought and sold...
wojtekthesoldierbear t1_j6llhi4 wrote
chomps on a burger
sears a steak
spreads marrow on toast
If only we could DO SOMETHING
Raichu7 t1_j6lolme wrote
Dairy cattle aren’t raised for meat unless they are a dual purpose breed.
pdieten t1_j6ls2de wrote
Depends on your definition of raised, I suppose, when I lived on the family Holstein dairy farm my parents would usually ship male Holstein calves out early for veal.
The cows were usually artificially inseminated with Holstein semen, but we kept a Hereford bull on the farm to keep the cow producing in case artificial means failed. The Hereford was much more docile than Holstein bulls so it was safer to keep him around, but the offspring of that mating were sterile so they'd be raised to 1000# as steers and either shipped or we'd keep it for ourselves if we were low on freezer beef.
Can't remember what was done with freemartins. It was a lot of decades ago.
Diplodocus114 t1_j6lwdu9 wrote
Those Hereford bulls were so docile. Local farmer had a 'Bull warning' on his field with a public footpath through.
The massive thing merely stayed with his harem and ignored passsers-by. He would sometimes approach for treats and scare people who didn't know him.
pdieten t1_j6nccuq wrote
Yeah, a regulation was enacted where I lived, and probably where you lived too, that notices had to be put up if a bull lived on the property even if all he did was stand there and chew his cud at you. Must have been sometime in the '80s, because one day when I was in my early teens Dad grabbed a big magic marker and wrote "Beware of bull" on the whitewashed doors to the barns.
Diplodocus114 t1_j6nykq9 wrote
Enter at your own risk etc. I was a kid in farming country in the 70s (born 63) and never saw a sign until the 1990s. Bulls were fine - they never left their girls unless approached - it was the curious bullocks that chased you.
Even now I would check out the undersides of young cattle before entering a field of strangers.
1955photo t1_j6lssuu wrote
A Hereford bull and a Holstein cow will produce sterile offspring? Not even Dr. Pol talked about that. Learn something every day.
pdieten t1_j6luacs wrote
Was a long time ago, I could be mistaken. The females definitely wouldn't produce. I suppose the males probably weren't sterile because the vet had to come around with the beefmaker to castrate them, but the mixed breed steers always yielded good beef.
SteerJock t1_j6lo4vu wrote
Dairy cattle are still fed to weight and harvested. They're not just thrown into a pit if they aren't useful for milking.
Diplodocus114 t1_j6lwve9 wrote
We had heifers and bullocks here. Both referring to young cattle not yet suitable for breeding. The bullocks were sent for slaughter.
A female was then called a 'cow' once she had a calf and deemed suitable for milking.
Kooky-Cry-4088 t1_j6lyhm2 wrote
Someone already answered it but bulls are still fed out. They don’t gain as quickly but they’re still worth $2500 a piece at time of harvest… Holstein also is some of the highest marbling meat you’ll find grades choice and prime more often than many other cattle just takes more time and feed.
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