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vaches taries

English translation: spent (dairy) cows


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14:49 Jun 22, 2011
French to English translations [PRO]
Science - Livestock / Animal Husbandry / Cow Farming
French term or phrase: vaches taries
This term is used to refer to dairy cows that are no longer producing milk (ready for slaughter). I am trying to decide between 'spent cows' or 'dry cows' for my translation, although I think 'dry cows' can also refer to cows that are still able to produce milk but are not doing so at a particular point in time. Would 'spent cows' convey the right idea?
Hollie Duquemin
United Kingdom
English translation:spent (dairy) cows
Explanation:
Seems to me that if you Google the terms "spent dairy cow" or "cull dairy cow", you get more ghits (relevant ones) than the same without "dairy".

Not sure that there might not be a difference between "spent" and "cull" since an animal can be culled for reasons other than absence of lactation.
Selected response from:

xxxBourth
Local time: 20:41
Grading comment
I agree with this and thanks Sue for seeing where I was coming from and verifying it for me, it has been a great help.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +6dry cow
Roberta Beyer
4 +2spent (dairy) cowsxxxBourth
Summary of reference entries provided
Augustin Dragoste

  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
dry cow


Explanation:
I think dry cow is better, as a more used term. But I could be wrong :)

Roberta Beyer
Local time: 14:41
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Debbie Tacium Ladry: I'd go with dry cows. If they are cows ready for slaughter, the French term is vache réformée (nice euphemism), or culled cow in English
1 min
  -> Thanks Debbie!
agree  Augustin Dragoste
58 mins
  -> Merci Augustin!
agree  reeny
1 hr
  -> Thanks reeny!
agree  Michael Ashley: Spent cow seems a bit awkward. I think dry cow is better.
1 hr
  -> Thanks Michael!
agree  Yolanda Broad: This is the term I'm familiar with from my uncle's farm. They got turned into hamburger, because the meat was too tough for anything else!
1 hr
  -> Thanks Yolanda!
neutral  Sue Stewart-Anderson: a dry cow is not necessarily a cow ready for slaughter, it may just be between lactations
3 hrs
agree  codestrata
4 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
spent (dairy) cows


Explanation:
Seems to me that if you Google the terms "spent dairy cow" or "cull dairy cow", you get more ghits (relevant ones) than the same without "dairy".

Not sure that there might not be a difference between "spent" and "cull" since an animal can be culled for reasons other than absence of lactation.

xxxBourth
Local time: 20:41
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 94
Grading comment
I agree with this and thanks Sue for seeing where I was coming from and verifying it for me, it has been a great help.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sue Stewart-Anderson: if the cow is ready for slaughter, and not just between lactations, then yes 'spent' cow is the right term
2 hrs
agree  B D Finch
5 hrs
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Reference comments


1 hr
Reference

Reference information:
http://www.wordwebonline.com/search.pl?ww=6&w=dry cow

Augustin Dragoste
Romania
Native speaker of: Romanian

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
neutral  B D Finch: This reference simply confirms the term exists, which we all know already. It doesn't help differentiate between a dry cow and a spent cow.
6 hrs
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