Calf

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

A calf (plural calves) is the young of various species of mammal. The term is most commonly used to refer to the young of cattle. The young of bison, camels, dolphins, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, moose, rhinoceroses, whales, and yaks are also called calves.

A cattle calf is the offspring of a cow and a bull. This terminology is also usually common to other species where the young is called a calf. A calf that has lost its mother is referred to as a dogie.

The birth of a calf is calving. The term calving is also applied in geology to the breaking off of a mass of ice from its parent glacier, iceberg, or ice shelf.

Human uses

Calf meat offered for human consumption is called veal. Fine calf skin used for pages in early codexes is called pergamon. The fourth compartment of the stomach of slaughtered milk-fed calves is the source of rennet. Calves feed from their mother's udder for a few weeks before eating solid food.

Calf leather is particularly valuable because of its softness, and fine grain. It is commonly used for the construction of high-end/high-quality shoes.

The type of beef (steak) that you normally eat is a steer.

External links

• Calving on Ropin' the Web, Agriculture and Food, Government of Alberta, Canada

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 05, 2008 at 21:02:50 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation