How Old is the cow

[jgibson]

I was just wondering is there any things you look for in a cow's appearance to tell how old she is. In other words, can you tell by just looking at an animal approximately how old they are?

 

[KNERSIE]

Look at her teeth, that will be the best way to tell.

 

[Mongoose]

Look around on the internet, they will have pics of teeth and it will show you. Then go look at the things teeth and you could get a pretty good estimate.

 

[dun]

Teeth are pretty much the standard but the forage the eat can really skew the results as can genetics. I've seen young cows show a lot of wear and older cows that didn;t show much. We have a cow that was classified as short and solid 9 years ago. We mouth her each spring and I don;t think the teeth have changed, at least not enough to notice.

dun

 

[milkmaid]

Sometimes you can get a good guess on their age by checking the bangs tattoo in their right ear, if they have one (some states don't require it). The last digit is the year of the vaccination. So this year heifers are tattoo'd with a "7" when they're vaccinated.

 

[Susie David]

Without checking the bangs tattoo (I figure they got it at 6mo)
and counting teeth, or the lack there of, from a distance the size of the hoofs, the size of the nose and the general appearance of the animal will give you a rough guess...young, mid-aged or old.
Just my two bits worth....DMc

 

[vs_cattle]

I think your vet can tell you the best with a test I herd a blood test can tell you