Cow, in common parlance, a domestic bovine, regardless of sex and age, usually of the species Bos taurus. In precise usage, the name is given to mature females of several large mammals, including cattle (bovines), moose, elephants, sea lions, and whales.(Britannica)
When I was a little girl, I used to go out to my grandmothers farm in Nebraska and she would go down to call the cows to be milked. She would stand by the fence and yell, “Come boss, Come boss.” I always thought that was funny she gave them “boss” status.
Now I see she was German and using the species name, Bos. Thanks for that info.
If you work on a ranch and you say you are castrating cows, you will most definitely be laughed at. If it’s a mixed herd, they are cattle. Never bred females are heifers. Previously bred or pregnant females are cows. Castrated males are steers. Intact males are bulls. To say anything else would label you a dude.
If you told me to gather the cows, I would do just that. The bovines I would bring in would be all older females. Everything else would be cut out. If I brought everything in under the generic “cow” creating more stress on all the animals and creating more work for everyone else I’d probably be sent home.
No rip on you, just an observation that the author was unaware.