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Some Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and Scottish farmers use the term "cattlebeast". "Neat" (horned oxen, from which we get "neatsfoot oil"), "beef" (young ox) and "beefing" (young animal fit for slaughtering) are obsolete terms. Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef cattle. Within the beef cattle industry in parts of the United States, the older term beef (plural beeves) is still used to refer to an animal of either gender. Cows of certain breeds that are kept for the milk they give are called dairy cows. Herds are counted as, for example, "one hundred head". The term cattle itself is not a plural, but a mass noun. Thus one may refer to some cattle, but not three cattle. The terms bull and cow are also used for the male and female of some other species, including other bovids such as American Bison, but also less closely related species such as moose, elk, elephants, whales, and sea lions. The terms are used primarily to refer to animals that have polygynous or harem mating systems.
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