This section is on general cattle questions. These are all questions that have been submitted or that I have been inspired to talk about because of a question submitted. If you have any topics that you would like to have discussed please feel free to email me with the topic or question.
I have looked high and low for the official distinction and can come up with nothing. "Cow people" that I ask tell me that a steer is any neutered male individual cattle while an ox must be trained and can be a cow, bull, or most typically, a steer. These ox are trained to pull wagons, carts, etc.
Yes, all cattle make milk and beef. But just like we have dogs that were bred to pull sleds or retrieve or herd sheep, etc , we have selectively bred breeds of cattle to either produce milk or produce beef. Diary cattle are bred to maximize milk production. Some of the milk cows can produce over 100 pounds of milk a day that translated to approximately 12 gallons (or 45 liters). That is a phenomenal amount of milk. Beef cattle on the other hand are bred for their degree of muscling (that is, meat). If you compare a Holstein or Jersey (dairy) to a Angus or Beefmaster (beef), the dairy breed is much bonier, angular, and less muscled. The beef breed is usually shorter and much, much stockier. There are some cattle breeds that have been bred for both purposes, Of course, they don't produce as much beef as the beef breeds or as much milk as the dairy breed, but they produce a moderate amount of both. These breeds are most useful in countries where food production is less specialized. One animal can give the farmer both milk and meat.
Cows and other ruminants like sheep and goats are often said to have four stomachs. This, however, is not an accurate statement. They only have one stomach but it has four specialized compartments. The first part of the stomach that the food enters in the rumen which is basically a huge fermentation vat. Once swallowed, food enters the rumen and stays there for a while in order for fermentation to occur. Sometimes the food is regugritated and rechewed as cud. Once it has been fermenting long enough, the food then passes into the second compartment of the stomach called the reticulum. The reticulum has a honeycomb like interior formed by interconnecting mucosal crests. The next compartment is the omasum. The omasum is spherical and about the size of a soccer ball (in an adult cow). Its interior is full of pagelike projections called lamina. The fourth and final compartment is the abomasum. It is equivalent to our stomachs and is lined with glandular mucosa. This comparmentalization of the stomach allows ruminants to extract nutrition from relatively poor quality food like grasses and leaves.
I have researched and answered these questions to the best of my ability. But I am human and make mistakes. If there is any part of my answer that you feel is incorrect, please let me know. The last thing I want is to disseminate false or incorrect information.