Okuzeka
Veterinary Medicine vocabulary · Reproduction and Birth

Calving

Meaning in veterinary medicine, with examples

/ˈkɑːvɪŋ/nounCore term

In veterinary medicine, calving means: The process of a cow giving birth to a calf. The verb is calve, and the time of year when the cows give birth is the calving season.

In Turkish: buzağılama, doğum (sığırlarda)

How it is used

A key word in farm practice: calving interval, calving pen, assisted calving. Vets are called out to difficult calvings at all hours. Each species has its own word: lambing, kidding, farrowing (pigs), foaling and whelping (dogs).

Example sentences

  1. We had a difficult calving at two in the morning; the calf was coming backwards.

  2. The farm wants to bring the calving interval down to 380 days.

Common collocations

  • calving season
  • calving interval
  • assisted calving
  • calving pen
  • difficult calving
  • dystociaA difficult or abnormal birth in which the mother cannot deliver her young without help, for example because the baby is too large or wrongly positioned.
  • cattleCows, bulls, steers and calves kept for milk or meat. It is a plural noun with no singular form.
  • pregnantCarrying one or more developing young in the uterus. Farm vets often use species phrases instead, such as in calf, in lamb or in foal.
  • caesarean sectionAn operation to deliver young by cutting through the abdominal wall and the uterus, used when a normal birth is impossible or unsafe.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Reproduction and Birth

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.