A heifer (pronounced “HEH-fur”) is a young female cow that hasn't yet had a calf. On a farm or ranch, farmers use this specific word to distinguish young females from bulls (males) and cows (females that have already had a calf).

The word matters because raising cattle requires careful record-keeping and planning. A rancher needs to know which animals are heifers so they can track when each one is ready to become a mother and join the producing herd. A dairy farmer might say, “We have twenty heifers that will have their first calves next spring.”