Can you speak swine?

At New Jersey’s largest agricultural fair, attendees are going to come face-to-face with a lot of livestock. Sound “farm smart” when walking through the pole barns this year with this quick guide to proper animal terminology.

• There are both beef cattle and dairy cows. The beef cattle are bigger and broader than the dairy. Males are bulls, females are cows and babies are calves.

• Male sheep are called rams, females are ewes and babies are lambs.

• Swine includes pigs and hogs. Males are boars, females are sows and babies are piglets.

• There are both meat goats and dairy goats. Males are billies, females are does, and yes, babies are kids.

• Chickens are roosters, hens and chicks.

• Rabbits are bucks, does and kits.

• Horses are stallions, mares and colts.

• Alpacas are machos, hembras and crias.

There can be a further breakdown depending on age, and whether the animal has been neutered, but that is for Advanced Animal Husbandry 101.