Bull or cow?
How to tell them apart
A bull is the uncastrated adult male; the cow is the female, and a castrated male is a steer or ox.
Quick answers
They differ on 1 of the 8 quick answers: dangerous.
| Question | Bull | Cow |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Mammal | Mammal |
| Carnivore? | No, herbivore | No, herbivore |
| Dangerous? differs | Yes | Can be |
| Domesticated? | Yes | Yes |
| Awake when? | Daytime | Daytime |
| Hibernates? | No | No |
| Kept as a pet? | No | No |
| Do people eat it? | Yes | Yes |
At a glance
| Question | Bull | Cow |
|---|---|---|
| Found in | Worldwide | Worldwide |
| Habitat differs | – | Farmland, Grassland |
| Size differs | Huge | Large |
| Weight differs | 500–1,000 kg (adult bulls) | Hereford: cows 600–800 kg, bulls 1,000–1,200 kg |
| Legs | 4 | 4 |
| Covered in | Fur | Fur |
| Lives | In herds | In herds |
| Lives for differs | 15–20 years | 18–22 years |
| Can fly | No | No |
| Swims | Yes | Yes |
| Lays eggs | No | No |
About each
Bull
An adult male of cattle that has not been castrated. Bulls are more muscular and aggressive than cows and often have a hump on the shoulders. Most male cattle are castrated young; the few bulls kept are used for breeding, and they need careful handling.
Cow
Large domesticated grazers, first tamed from the wild aurochs about 10,500 years ago. Kept for meat, milk and leather and for pulling loads, there were over 940 million cattle in the world in 2022.
Sources
Last reviewed . The answers and notes come from each animal's own page, where every source is listed.
How each answer is decided: How we answer. More look-alikes: Side by side.