Aberrant behavior syndrome (ABS). A condition in which an adult llama (usually an uncastrated male) that was improperly imprinted on humans while it was a cria becomes dangerously aggressive toward people. Previously called berserk male syndrome (BMS).
Abomasum. The third compartment of the ruminant stomach; the compartment where digestion takes place.
Abortion. Early (often spontaneous) termination of pregnancy.
Acre. A unit of measurement: 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet.
Action. The manner in which an animal moves its legs.
Acute. Any process occurring over a short period of time.
Afterbirth. The placenta and fetal membranes that are expelled after giving birth.
Agouti. A color in which each hair has three or more bands of color with a definite break between each color.
Alarm call. The distinctive, whinny-like sound a llama makes when it feels it or the herd it belongs to is threatened.
ALBC. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy; a group dedicated to preserving and promoting rare and endangered breeds of American livestock and poultry.
Ammonium chloride. A mineral salt fed to male sheep and goats to inhibit the formation of bladder and kidney stones.
Amnion. One of two fluid-filled membranes enclosing an unborn fetus.
Anestrus. The period of time when a female animal is not having estrous (heat) cycles.
Anthelmintic. A substance used to control or destroy internal parasites; a dewormer.
Antibodies. Circulating protein molecules that help neutralize disease organisms.
Antitoxin. An antibody capable of neutralizing a specific disease organism.
Artificial insemination (AI). A process by which semen is deposited within a female’s uterus by artificial means.
Aspirate. To pull back slightly on a syringe’s plunger to draw fluid into the chamber.
Ass. Another word for donkey.
ATTRA. The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service; managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
Autogenous vaccines. Vaccine made from organisms collected from a specific disease outbreak; for example, autogenous caseous lymphadenitis vaccine is manufactured using bacteria harvested from pus collected from the lanced abscess of an infected goat.
Back cross. The mating of a crossbred off-spring back to one of its parental breeds.
Bag (slang). Udder
Bagging up. Enlargement of the udder prior to giving birth.
Balanced ration. Feeds having proper portions of ingredients to provide for growth, reproduction, and good health.
Banana ears. Banana-shaped llama ears that curve inward toward one another.
Banding. Castration by the process of applying a fat rubber ring to a male animal’s scrotum using a tool called an elastrator.
Barren. Unable to conceive or bear young.
Barrow. A male pig castrated prior to maturity.
Bars. The gap between an equine’s front and back teeth where the bit on a bridled animal rests.
Belt. A band of white around the barrel of an animal, flanked on either end by a darker color.
Billy (slang). An uncastrated male goat; the preferred term is
buck.
Birth date. The actual date an animal was born.
Birth weight. The weight of a young animal taken within 24 hours of birth.
Bite. Occlusion; the manner in which the upper and lower teeth match up.
Bleating. Goat and sheep vocalization; in goats, also referred to as calling.
Blemish. A scar or deformity that diminishes an animal’s beauty but doesn’t affect its soundness.
Blind teat. A nonfunctional teat; it has no orifice.
Bloat. Excessive accumulation of gas in a ruminant’s rumen.
Bloodlines. The ancestry of an animal.
Bloom. The healthy shine of a hair coat in good condition.
Blowing coat (shedding, molting). When a coated animal sheds its hair, usually in the spring or summer months.
Boar. An adult male pig used for breeding purposes.
Bolus. A large, oval pill; also used to describe a chunk of cud.
Booster vaccination. A second or multiple vaccinations given to increase an animal’s resistance to a specific disease.
Bo-Se. An injectable prescription selenium supplement.
Bos indicus. Humped breeds of cattle descending from aurochs’ ancestors domesticated in the Indus Valley of India and Pakistan.
Bos taurus. Nonhumped cattle descending from aurochs’ ancestors domesticated in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Bot flies. A beelike fly that lays eggs in equines’ hair or in sheep and goats’ nostrils.
Bot fly eggs. Minute yellow eggs deposited on the legs and chins of equines.
Bots. A type of internal parasite.
Bottom side. The dam’s side of a pedigree.
Bovine. Relating to cattle.
Box stall. A roomy, four-sided stall to house livestock, particularly equines.
Bray. The loud, forceful vocalization of a donkey or mule.
Breech birth. A birth in which the rump of a baby animal is presented first, instead of its head.
Breed. Individual animals of a color, body shape, and other characteristics similar to those of their ancestors, capable of transmitting these characteristics to their own offspring.
Breeder. Generally speaking, anyone who breeds animals; more specifically, an animal’s breeder is the person who owned its dam when it was foaled.
Breeding class. A livestock show class based on judging an animal’s conformation and type.
Brindle. Striped.
Britchin. A contraption similar to a harness that fastens around the donkey’s chest and drapes across its hindquarters.
Broken. A color term denoting white and any other color.
Broken mouth. An older animal that has lost some of its permanent incisors.
Brood mare/brood jenny. A female equine kept primarily for producing foals.
Browse. Morsels of woody plants including twigs, shoots, and leaves; also the act of consuming browse.
Buck. An uncastrated male goat.
Buck rag. A cloth rubbed on the scent glands of a buck and presented to a doe to see if she is in heat.
Buckling. An immature, uncastrated male goat.
Bull. An uncastrated male bovine.
Bunt. The act of a young animal poking its mother’s udder with its head to facilitate milk letdown.
Burro. Western colloquialism referring to a donkey; donkey in Spanish is el burro.
Bute. Phenylbutazone, a prescription veterinary drug widely used for reducing pain.
Butt. The act of an animal bashing another animal (or a human) with its horns or forehead.
By. Short for “sired by.”
CAE. Caprine arthritis encephalitis.
Calf. A baby bovine.
Calling. Vocalization.
Camelid. Members of the camel family including the old-world camelids (camels) and new-world camelids (alpacas, llamas, guanacos, vicuñas, and hybrids thereof).
Caprine. Relating to goats.
Carcass. The body of a slaughtered animal.
Castrate. Removal of a male’s testes.
Catch pen. A small, well-fenced area used for catching and sometimes training livestock.
Catheter-tip syringe. A syringe with a blunt tip, used for the oral dosing of animals.
Cattle panel. A very sturdy large-gauge welded-wire fence panel; sold in various lengths and heights.
cc. Cubic centimeter; same as a milliliter (ml).
Ccara (CAR-ah). The short-woolled llama; in some places ccara refers to a working llama as opposed to a fiber llama.
CD/T. Toxoid vaccine used to protect against enterotoxemia (caused by Clostridium perfringens types C and D) and tetanus.
Cervix. The section of a female’s uterus that protrudes into the vagina; it dilates during birth to allow the young to pass through.
Chromosome. The long DNA molecules on which genes (the basic genetic codes) are located.
Chronic. Any process occurring over a long period of time.
CL. Caseous lymphadenitis.
Classification. A system of judging within different breeds.
Claws. The two halves of a cloven hoof.
Clean legged. A sheep term denoting an animal with hair instead of wool on its legs.
Closed face. A sheep term denoting an animal with wool covering its entire head.
Coarse. Lacking refinement.
Cob. A small horse or pony with cobby conformation.
Cobby. A short, stocky body type that is close coupled and compact.
Coccidiostat. A chemical substance mixed with feed, bottle-fed milk, or drinking water to control coccidiosis.
Coggins. A blood test used to detect carriers of equine infectious anemia; also the certificate indicating that an equine has been Coggins tested.
Colostrum. The first milk a female produces after birth; high in antibodies, this milk protects newborn kids against disease; sometimes incorrectly called colostrums.
Colt. An uncastrated male equine under three years of age.
Come into milk. To begin lactating (producing milk).
Composite breed. A breed made up of two or more other breeds.
Concentrate. High energy, low fiber, highly digestible feed such as grain.
Condition. Amount of fat and muscle tissue on an animal’s body.
Conformation. A descriptive term pertaining to the overall look of the body parts of an animal.
Congenital. A condition acquired during development in the uterus and not through heredity.
Cover. To breed (a male animal covers a female animal).
Cow. A female bovine; sometimes loosely used to refer to bovines of all ages and sexes.
Crest. The upper portion of an animal’s neck, stretching from its poll to its withers.
Cria (CREE-uh). A young llama between birth and weaning age.
Crimp. Natural waviness along the length of an individual fiber or lock of fleece that allows it to stretch and then spring back into shape.
Crossbred. An animal resulting from the mating of two different breeds.
Crutch. To shear fiber from an animal’s back legs and belly.
Cud. Undigested food regurgitated by a ruminant to be chewed and swallowed again.
Cull. To eliminate from a herd or breeding program; also an animal eliminated as part of the culling process.
Curaca (cur-AH-cah). A longer-woolled llama still within the ccara type.
Cush. An alternate spelling of kush.
Dam. The female parent.
Deccox. The brand name of Decoquinate.
Decoquinate. A coccidiostat sometimes added to feed to control coccidiosis.
Dehorning. The removal of existing horns.
Dental pad. An extension of the gums on the front part of the upper jaw of certain animals including goats, sheep, llamas, and cattle; it is a substitute for top front teeth.
Dew claws. Extra toes or vestigal hooves occurring on one or more legs.
Dewlap. A pendulous fold of loose skin that hangs below the throat.
Deworm. The use of chemicals or herbs to rid an animal of internal parasites.
Dewormer. An anthelmintic; a substance used to rid an animal of internal parasites.
Disbud. To destroy the emerging horn buds of a young animal by the application of a red-hot disbudding iron.
Dish-faced. Having a concave facial profile.
Disposition. The temperament of an animal.
Disqualification. One or more defects, deformities, or blemishes that render an animal ineligible for registration, breeding, or showing.
Dock. To shorten a lamb’s tail.
Doeling. A young female goat.
Drench. Giving liquid medicine by mouth; also a liquid medicine given by mouth.
Dressing percentage. The percentage of a meat animal that remains as a carcass after slaughtering and eviscerating.
Dual-coat. The type of fleece produced by some primitive sheep breeds, including Shetlands, consisting of a long outer coat topping a shorter, fluffier undercoat.
Dual-purpose breeds. Animals developed for two purposes such as meat and fiber or meat and milk.
Dung piles. The areas where llamas urinate and defecate.
Dust bath. A bare, sandy, or dusty spot where animals prefer to roll (dust bathe).
DVM. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
Dystocia (dis-TOH-shuh). Difficulty in giving birth.
Easy keeper. An animal that easily maintains its weight.
Elastrator. A plierslike tool used to apply heavy, O-shaped rubber bands called elastrator bands to a male animal’s scrotum for castration.
Emaciation. Loss of flesh resulting in extreme leanness.
Embryo. An animal in the early stages of development before birth; a fertilized egg.
Embryo transplant. Implantation of embryos into a surrogate mother.
Emu oil. A medicinal oil manufactured from emu fat, especially useful for treating cuts and abrasions.
Energy. A nutrient category of feeds usually expressed as TDN (total digestible nutrients).
Entero. A shortened, common name for enterotoxemia.
Entire. An uncastrated male animal.
Equine. All members of the family Equus, including horses, donkeys, zebras, and their hybrids.
Esophageal feeder (also called a tube feeder). A milk reservoir and flexible tube used to feed young animals that can’t or won’t nurse in the normal manner.
Estrogen. Female sex hormone produced by the ovaries; estrogen is the hormone responsible for the estrus portion of a female’s estrous cycle.
Estrus. The period when a female animal is receptive (for example, she will mate with a male; she is “in heat”) and can become pregnant.
Estrous cycle. The female reproductive cycle.
Euthanize. To humanely end an animal’s life.
Ewe. A female sheep; in countries that use sheep terms to describe goats (for example, South Africa), a doe or female goat.
Ewe lamb. A female lamb.
Extra-label (also called off-label). The use of a drug for a purpose for which it isn’t approved.
Eye color. The color of the iris, the circle of color that surrounds the pupil of an animal’s eye.
F1. The first-generation offspring resulting from the mating of a purebred male animal to a purebred female of another breed.
Fainting goat. A common name for Myotonic goats.
Farrier. A skilled craftsperson who shoes equines and trims hooves.
Farrow. In pig terminology, to give birth.
Farrowing pen. An area set aside for farrowing, usually containing rails under which piglets can retreat to avoid being crushed by their dam.
Fatten. Feeding for increased weight gain.
Faults. Imperfections for a particular breed or variety of animal.
Favor. To limp slightly.
Fecal egg count (FEC). The number of worm eggs in a gram of feces; sometimes written as EPG (eggs per gram).
Fiber. Wool or hair.
Field shelter. A basic shelter with a roof and, usually, three sides.
Fighting teeth. Six very sharp caninelike teeth, two in the lower jaw and one in the upper jaw on both sides of a male llama’s mouth.
Filly. A female equine under three years of age.
Fine fiber. Soft fiber with a low micron count.
Fineness. A measure (in microns) of the diameter of individual fibers.
Finishing. The act of feeding an animal to produce a desirable carcass for market.
Fitting. Preparing an animal for show.
Flake. One segment of a bale of hay.
Fleece weight. The weight of all usable fiber removed from a single animal.
Flehmen. Curling of the upper lip in order to increase the ability to discern scent.
Float. To file an animal’s teeth to remove sharp edges.
Flock. A group of sheep.
Fly strike. A condition in which blowflies lay eggs in wounds or wet, filthy fiber; when maggots hatch out, they consume their host’s flesh.
Foal. An equine less than one year of age; also the act of an equine giving birth.
Foal heat. The first estrus that occurs after foaling.
Follicle. A fluid-filled sack (on an ovary) that contains an ovum (egg).
Forage. Grass and the edible parts of browse plants that can be used to feed livestock.
Forb. A broad-leafed herbaceous plant (for example, curly dock, plantain, and dandelion).
Free choice. Available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; hay and mineral mixes are generally fed free choice.
Freshen. To give birth and begin lactating (producing milk).
Gait. A pattern of foot movements such as the walk, trot, canter, and gallop.
Gelding. A castrated male equine.
Genetic marker. A detectable gene or DNA fragment.
Genotype. The genetic makeup of an animal or plant.
Gestation. The length of pregnancy.
Get. The progeny of a male animal.
Gilt. A young female pig.
Grade. An unregistered animal, often of unknown breeding.
Graft. A procedure in which a newborn animal is transferred to and raised by a dam that is not its own.
Grain. Seeds of cereal crops such as oats, corn, barley, milo, and wheat.
Guard hair. Medullated (hollow) hair comprising a second, outer coat of fiber.
Gummer. An old animal that has lost most or all of its teeth.
Habitat. The place or environment where a plant or animal is normally found.
Hackles. The strip of long hair along the spine that some animals (especially goats and pigs) raise when angry or excited.
Halter. Headgear used to facilitate catching, leading, and tying.
Halter class. A class judged on soundness, style, and how well an entry physically conforms to its breed standard.
Hand. Equines are measured in hands; one hand equals 4 inches (10 cm). Equines are measured from the highest point of their withers to the ground. Fractions are shown as hands-point-inches, so that an 8.3 hand miniature mule would be 35 inches (89 cm) tall.
Handspinner. A person who spins fiber by hand using a spinning wheel or drop spindle; a fiber hobbyist.
Hard keeper. An animal that requires more than the usual amount of feed to maintain weight.
Haunches. Hindquarters.
Hay. Grass mowed and cured for use as offseason forage.
Heart girth. Circumference of the chest immediately behind the front legs.
Heat. See Estrus.
Heifer. A female cow less than three years of age.
Herbivore. A plant-eating animal.
Heritability. The degree to which a trait is inherited.
Heterosis. The increased performance of hybrids over purebreds; hybrid vigor.
Hinny. The sterile hybrid offspring of a stallion and a jenny.
Hog. A pig.
Horns. Solid, bony cores covered by a sheath of hard, fibrous material. They form part of an animal’s skull, grow throughout its lifetime, and are never shed.
Huarizo (h’whar-EE-soh). An alpaca-llama hybrid; some say only a male alpaca bred to a female llama produces a huarizo and that the mating of a male llama to a female alpaca produces a misti.
Humming. The droning sound llamas make under a variety of circumstances.
Hybrid vigor. See Heterosis.
Hypothermia. A condition characterized by low body temperature.
IgG (Immunoglobulin G). Antibodies in the colostrum of near-term female animals and those that have just given birth.
IM (Intramuscular). The injecting of a solution, usually a vaccine or drug, into muscle mass.
Immunity. A natural or acquired resistance to a specific disease.
IN (Intranasal). The spraying of a solution, usually a vaccine or drug, into the nostrils.
In foal (kid, lamb, calf, pig). Pregnant.
In milk. Lactating.
In season. In heat; see Estrus.
Inbreeding. Mating closely related individuals such as father and daughter, mother and son, and full or half siblings.
Induced ovulator. A female animal that ovulates after, instead of before, being bred.
IU (International Unit). A unit of measurement used in labeling vitamins and drugs.
IV (Intravenous). The injection of a solution into a vein.
Jack. An uncastrated male donkey.
Jackass. An uncastrated male donkey.
Jennet (JEN-et). The correct term for a female donkey.
Jenny. A colloquial word for jennet (and the one generally used in this book).
John. A gelded male mule or hinny.
Jug. An approximately 4 × 5-foot-pen (1.2 × 1.5 m) where a doe or ewe and her newborns are kept for the first 24 to 72 hours after giving birth.
Kemp. Coarse, medullated hair fibers scattered throughout a fleece.
Ketones. Substances found in the blood of late-term pregnant females suffering from pregnancy toxemia.
Killed vaccine. Being or containing a virus that has been inactivated (as by chemicals) so that it is no longer infectious.
Kush (also spelled cush). The act of a camelid lying down sternally with its legs tucked under it. It is also the name of the position as well as the command given to an animal to signal it to kush.
Lactation. The period when a female is giving milk.
Lamb. A baby sheep. In countries that use sheep terms to describe goats, a kid or baby goat. The meat of young sheep. The act of a female sheep giving birth.
Lamb fleece. Fleece obtained from a lamb’s first shearing, usually the softest and finest it will ever produce.
Lame. A condition in which an animal does not carry weight equally on all four legs, due to disease or injury.
Lanuda (lah-NOO-dah). A long-woolled llama with fringes on its ears and abundant wool on its legs.
Larvae. Immature stages of adult parasite; the term applies to insects, ticks, and worms.
Lead. A rope or strap used for leading livestock.
Lead rope. A sturdy 7 to 10-foot (2–3 m) rope with a snap on one end, used for leading livestock.
Legume. Plants such as alfalfa, clover, and lespedeza.
Libido. Sex drive; the desire to copulate.
Line. A group of related individuals.
Linebreeding. The mating of individuals sharing a common ancestor.
Litter. Two or more young born from the same mating, to the same dam.
Live vaccine. One in which live virus is weakened in order to produce an immune response without causing the severe effects of the disease.
Longear. Colloquialism for a donkey or mule.
Luster (spelled lustre in Britain). The natural sheen of certain fibers.
Maiden. An animal that has never given birth.
Malocclusion. An inherited defect whereby the upper and lower jaws do not allow the upper teeth or dental pad to meet correctly with the lower teeth.
Marbling. Fat distributed within muscle mass.
Mare. A female horse three years of age or older; in Britain, female donkeys three years of age or older are also called mares, rather than jennies or jennets.
Mare mule. A female mule.
Marking harness. A simple harness incorporating a colored crayon or colored chalk, which is sometimes worn by rams and goat bucks during breeding season.
Mastitis. Inflammation of the udder.
Meconium. The sticky, usually blackish fecal matter that a baby animal passes within a few hours after birth.
Mediterranean donkey. A miniature donkey.
Medullated. Hollow.
Medullation. The degree to which a fleece contains medullated fiber.
Micron. A measurement of fiber diameter, equal to 1/25,000 of an inch or 1/1,000 of a millimeter. Used to refer to the fineness of a fiber: a smaller micron equates with finer fiber.
Milk letdown. Release of milk by the mammary glands.
Miniature donkey. The American Donkey and Mule Society/Miniature Donkey Registry records donkeys standing up to 36 inches (91 cm) tall, measured at the withers; the International Miniature Donkey Registry registers miniature donkeys up to 38 inches (97 cm) tall.
Miniature donkey (oversized or Class B). The American Donkey and Mule Society/Miniature Donkey Registry records donkeys 36.01 to 38 inches (91.5–97 cm) tall in their Class B studbook.
Miniature horse. In American Miniature Horse Association terminology, a horse standing 34 inches (86 cm) or less, measured at the last hairs of the mane; in American Miniature Registry terminology, a horse standing less than 38 inches (96.5 cm), measured at the last hairs of the mane.
Miniature mule. Miniature mules are the offspring of a miniature donkey jack bred to a miniature horse mare. The American Miniature Mule Society registers them in two sizes: Class A — Under 38 inches (97 cm), and Class B — 38 inches to 48 inches (97–122 cm).
Mitochondrial DNA. Genetic material inherited from one’s mother, contained within the mitochondria of each cell.
ml (milliliter). A unit of liquid measure; the same as a cubic centimeter (cc).
Molly. A female mule or hinny.
Molly mule. A female mule.
Molt (moult). To shed hair, wool, or fur.
Monensin. A coccidiostat sometimes added to feed to control coccidiosis; marketed under the brand name Rumensin; monensin is highly toxic to equines.
Monkey mouth. See Underbite.
Monogastric. A digestive system containing a simple stomach system (found in humans, equines, pigs).
Mothering pen. See Jug.
Motility. The ability of sperm to move themselves.
Mule. The sterile hybrid offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare).
Multispecies grazing (mixed grazing). Grazing two or more species of animals on the same unit of land.
Mutation. A spontaneous change in characteristics that is inherited by an individual’s progeny.
Myotonia congenita. The inherited neuromuscular condition that causes Myotonic goats’ major muscles to temporarily seize up.
Myotonic goat. The preferred name for a “fainting goat”; a muscular goat carrying the gene for myotonia congenita.
Nanny (slang). A female goat; the preferred term is doe.
Needle teeth. Eight tiny teeth present at a piglets’ birth that some people clip to prevent injury to the dam’s teats and littermates’ ears.
Nematode. A type of internal parasite; a worm.
Nick. A fortuitous mating in which offspring are superior to their parents.
Off feed. Not eating as much as usual.
Omasum. The third part of the ruminant stomach; it’s sandwiched between the reticulum and the abomasum.
Omnivorous. An animal that eats both flesh and plant food.
Oocyst. A minute pouch or saclike structure containing the fertilized cell of a parasite
Open. Not pregnant.
Open show. Shows that are open to exhibitors of all ages; shows that are open to all breeds.
Open-faced. A sheep term denoting having little or no wool on the face.
Orifice. The opening in the end of a functional teat.
Ovary. One of a pair of egg- and hormone-producing glands in a female animal.
Over the counter (OTC). Nonprescription drugs.
Overconditioned. Fat.
Overshot or parrot mouth. When the lower jaw is shorter than the upper jaw and the teeth hit in back of the dental pad.
Ovine. Referring to sheep.
Ovulation. When the follicle ruptures and the ovum (egg) is released from the ovary.
Ovum. An egg; also called an ova or oocyte.
Ox (plural: oxen). Castrated adult male cattle used for riding and driving or for draft purposes.
Oxytocin. A naturally occurring hormone that plays a role in milk letdown and muscle contraction during the birthing process.
Paddock. A small, enclosed area used for grazing.
Palatable. Agreeable in flavor.
Palpation. Examining something with one’s hands.
Papered. Registered.
Papers. A registration certificate.
Parturition. The act of giving birth.
Passive transfer of immunity. Acquiring protection against infectious disease from another animal; this occurs when a newborn consumes antibody-rich colostrum from its dam.
Pasture breeding. When a male animal runs loose with a group of females and breeding occurs without human intervention.
Pathogen. An agent that causes disease, especially a living microorganism such as a bacterium or virus.
Pecking order. The social hierarchy within a group of animals.
Pedigree. A certificate documenting an animal’s line of descent.
Pen breeding. The breeding system by which one male and one female animal are released in a small enclosure for mating purposes.
Percentage. A crossbred animal that is at least 50 percent of a specific breed.
Perennial. A plant that doesn’t die at the end of its first growing season but returns and regrows from year to year.
pH. A measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a solution and therefore its acidity or alkalinity.
Pharmaceutical. A substance used in the treatment of disease: a drug, medication, or medicine.
Phenotype. An individual’s observable physical characteristics.
Piglet. A baby pig.
Pizzle. The urethral process, a stringy-looking structure at the end of some male animals’ penises.
Placenta. See Afterbirth.
Pneumonia. Infection in the lungs.
Polled. Naturally hornless.
Pony. Members of the Equus equus (horse) subspecies standing, depending on breed and/or local custom, less than 14 hands or sometimes 14.2 hands tall.
Porcine. Relating to pigs.
Postpartum. After giving birth.
Predator. An animal that lives by killing and eating other animals.
Prepartum. Before giving birth.
Prepotency. The ability of an individual to sire or produce uniform offspring.
Prey animal. An animal belonging to a species preyed upon by predators.
Probiotic. Living organisms used to influence rumen health by assisting in the fermentation process.
Processing. Slaughtering an animal and preparing its meat for home use or market.
Produce. A female animal’s offspring.
Progeny. Offspring.
Progesterone. A hormone secreted by the ovaries and produced by the placenta during pregnancy.
Proliferate. To vastly multiply in numbers, usually over a short span of time.
Prolific. Producing more than the usual number of offspring.
Protein. A nutrient category of feed used for growth, milk, and repair of body tissue.
Proven. An animal that has successfully sired or produced live offspring.
Puberty. When an animal becomes sexually mature.
Pulpy kidney. Another name for enterotoxemia. Pureblood. See Purebred.
Purebred. An individual whose ancestors are of the same breed for a predetermined number of generations.
Put down. Euphuism for the euthanization or humane destruction of an animal.
Quarantine. To isolate or separate an individual from others of its kind.
Ram. An uncastrated male sheep; in countries that use sheep terms to describe goats, an uncastrated male goat.
Ration. Total feed given an animal during a 24-hour period.
Raw fiber. Unwashed fiber.
Recipient (doe, ewe, cow, mare, and so on), also called a recip. A female into which one or two flushed embryos, depending on species, are inserted and which she carries to term.
Registered animal. An animal that has a registration certificate and number issued by a breed association.
Rehydrate. To replace body fluids lost through dehydration.
Replacement. An animal retained for future breeding purposes.
Reticulum. The second chamber of a ruminant’s stomach.
Ring. A metal ring sometimes placed in the edge of a pig’s nose to keep it from rooting; also the act of inserting the ring. A ring placed in the septum of a bovine’s nose to aid in controlling it or to provide attachment for bridle reins.
Roman-nosed. A convex facial profile.
Rooting. When pigs use their snouts to unearth food.
Rotational grazing (or browsing). Moving grazing or browsing animals from one paddock to another before plant growth in the first paddock is fully depleted; allows pasture regrowth.
Roughage. Plant fiber.
Roundworm. A parasitic worm with an elongated round body.
Rumen. The first compartment of the stomach of a ruminant, in which microbes break down the cellulose in plants.
Rumensin. The brand name for monensin.
Ruminant. An animal with a multicompartmented stomach and that chews cud.
Rumination. The process whereby a cud or bolus of rumen contents is regurgitated, rechewed, and reswallowed; “chewing the cud.”
Runt. The smallest of the young in a litter; sometimes used to describe any unusually small or underdeveloped animal.
Rut. The period during which a male sheep, or goat is interested in breeding females.
Sanctioned. Events held under the direction of a registry, organization, or breeder’s group.
Sardinian donkey. A miniature donkey.
Scours. Diarrhea.
Scrapie. The goat and sheep version of “mad cow disease”; sometimes incorrectly spelled scrapies.
Scrotum. The external pouch in which a male animal’s testicles are suspended.
Scur. A small, misshaped horn or horn button. Seasonal breeders. Female animals that only come in heat during part of the year. Selection. Choosing superior animals as parents for future generations.
Self-colored. The same color over the entire body; solid colored.
Septicemia. An infection of the bloodstream that affects the entire body.
Settle. Get pregnant.
Sexing. Determining the sex of an animal. Sheath. The outer skin covering protecting a male animal’s penis.
Shoat. A young pig.
Show. A female animal is “showing” when she indicates she’s receptive to being bred.
Silent heat. In heat (estrus) but showing no outward signs.
Sire. The male parent.
Sound. Having no defects that affect serviceability.
Sow. An adult female pig; usually one that has given birth to one or more litters.
Sow-mouth. See Underbite.
Spin. To twist fiber into yarn; this can be done using commercial machinery, a spinning wheel, or a drop spindle.
Spit test. Exposing a previously bred female llama to a male llama to see if she will “spit him off,” indicating that she has conceived.
Spooky. Easily startled.
Square. Having a boxy appearance with “a leg in each corner”; a very desirable trait in most miniature species.
Stallion. An uncastrated male horse three years of age or older. In Britain and a few other parts of the world, uncastrated male donkeys three years of age or older are also called stallions (instead of jacks).
Standard (also Standard of Perfection). The desirable characteristics of a breed of animal as approved and written down by its registration organization.
Standing heat. The period during estrus (heat) when a female animal allows a male to breed her.
Staple. A group or lock of individual fibers. Staple length. The length of a group or lock of individual fibers.
Steer. A castrated male bovine.
Stocking rate. The number of animals that can be pastured on one acre or the number of acres required to pasture one animal.
Straw. The stems of plants (oats, wheat, barley) that are cut and baled to be used for animal bedding.
Stud fee. The charge for breeding to a male animal.
Studbook. A compilation of information about individual breeding animals, maintained by a registry.
Subcutaneous (SQ). Under the skin.
Substance. A strong, stockily built animal with good bone has substance.
Suri (SIR-ee). A type of llama characterized by individual locks of fleece hanging in ringlets.
Sustainable agriculture. An approach to producing profitable farm products while enhancing natural productivity and minimizing adverse effects to the environment.
Sweet feed. A commercial mixture of grains with molasses added.
Swine. A term used to describe all pigs.
Switch. The long-haired lower section of a donkey’s tail (also called a swish).
Symmetry. The relationship of all body parts when viewed as a whole on a given animal.
Systemic. Affecting the entire body.
Tack. Equipment used for riding, driving, and caring for animals.
Tags. Unusable bits of felted or dirty fleece removed from the lower legs.
Tail wrap. Material (nowadays usually 4-inch wide, self-stick, disposable bandage) used to wrap around and protect an animal’s tail during trailering, breeding, and giving birth.
Tampada (tam-PAH-dah). A long-wool llama, but not as woolly as a lanuda.
Tampuli (tam-POO-lee). A catch term for woolly llamas (tampadas and lanudas).
Tapeworm. A segmented, ribbonlike, intestinal parasite.
TDN. Total Digestible Nutrients; energy value of feeds can be assayed in a laboratory.
Teaser. A male animal used to verify the readiness of a female for breeding purposes, often one that has had its spermatic cords cut or tied (has had a vasectomy).
Testosterone. A hormone that promotes the development and maintenance of male sexual characteristics.
Three-in-one package. A pregnant female animal sold with her unweaned baby at her side.
Top side. The sire’s side of a pedigree.
Topline. The area between an animal’s withers and the beginning of its tail.
Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN). A standard system for expressing the energy value of feed.
Toxin. Any poisonous substance of biological origin.
Trace minerals. Minerals needed in only minute amounts.
Trachea. Windpipe leading from the throat to lungs.
Trimester. One-third of a pregnancy.
Tusks. Long upper and lower canine teeth.
Type. The body conformation of an animal or the shape of a particular body part, as in “head type.”
Uc. Urinary calculi; mineral salt crystals (“stones”) that form in the urinary tract and sometimes block the urethras of male animals.
Udder. The female mammary system.
Ultrasound. A procedure in which sound waves are bounced off tissues and organs; widely used to confirm pregnancy in females.
Underbite. When an animal’s lower jaw is longer than its upper jaw and its lower teeth extend forward past its upper teeth or the dental pad on upper jaw; also known as monkey mouth or sow mouth.
Underconditioned. Thin.
Urethral process. The pizzle; a stringy-looking structure at the end of a male goat’s penis.
Urinary calculi (UC). Stones formed in the urinary tract.
USDA. United States Department of Agriculture.
Uterus. The female organ in which fetuses develop; the womb.
Vagina. The passageway from the female uterus to the outside of her body; the birth canal.
Vascular. Pertaining to or provided with vessels; usually refers to veins and arteries.
Vegetable matter (VM). Sticks, burrs, hay chaff, and so forth in a raw, uncleaned fleece.
Vulva. The external female genital organ.
Wallow. The act of lying in mud or water; a muddy spot made for wallowing.
Weanling. A young animal less than one year of age that has been weaned from its dam.
Wether. A castrated male goat or sheep; also the act of castrating male goats or sheep.
Withdrawal period. After administering drugs, the amount of time during which an animal must not be sent to market to ensure no drug residues remain in its meat.
Wool. Sheep fiber.
Wool blindness. A condition caused by excessive wool growth around sheep’s eyes.
Yearling. An animal of either sex that is one to two years of age.