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before we get started
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let's familiarize ourselves with some of
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the dairy cattle terminology that will
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be used in this video
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and also take a look at the dairy
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anatomy diagram that's provided
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feel free to pause this video or rewind
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and refer back to these diagrams as you
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go along with the video
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have you ever gone to a state fair or
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livestock show and wondered why people
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show dairy cows
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have you been curious to learn how the
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judges place those cows the way he or
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she does
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what do judges look for in these animals
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why did the herdsmen walk these animals
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slowly around in a circle like that
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well today we're going to learn all
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about dairy judging to answer all of
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those questions
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but before we learn the tips and tricks
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of dairy judging let's learn about why
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we judge dairy cattle in the first place
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and why farmers work so hard to prep
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their animals for huge week-long shows
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like these
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dairy cows have been selectively bred
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over the years to be high milk producing
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animals that can continue milking that
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high production level for many years
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farmers breed their animals to have
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calves that grow into strong healthy
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and well-tempered cows that can handle
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producing large quantities of milk over
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the course of many years
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this is achieved by selectively breeding
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animals to pass down ideal genetic
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traits to their offspring
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as well as implementing a proper
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nutritional feeding program
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to ensure that they have a healthy diet
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full of nutrients and vitamins that they
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need to produce a lot of milk
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as we learn about the history of dairy
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judging it's important to differentiate
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between the two different uses of
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different types of cattle
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dairy and beef cows are the same species
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however they look and behave so
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differently
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because of how they're selectively bred
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over the years dairy cows have been bred
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to be very lean
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and have refined bone structure or
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strong dairy strength this is why they
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may seem more bony than beef cows
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their nutrition and maintenance is also
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designed to increase their milk
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production and longevity
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beef cows however have been bred to be
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more muscular and thicker animals whose
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diets promote muscle growth over a short
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time period in order to produce high
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quality
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meat products
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the best way to understand how we judge
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dairy cattle is by going through the
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dairy unified scorecard which is a
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summation of all the traits every judge
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analyzes in a dairy animal we will also
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break down each portion
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so that you can learn what each of these
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terms mean and how to implement that
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into your dairy judging abilities
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the first section of the scorecard is
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frame which accounts for 15
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of the 100 points a dairy cow is judged
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out of
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a dairy cow's frame is referring to the
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skeletal parts of the animal
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not including the rear feet and legs now
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we're going to go into the breakdown of
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those 15 points
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five points is allocated to rump ideally
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you want a long and wide rump at a
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slight downward angle from the hips to
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the pins
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to allow proper drainage of birthing
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fluids after calving
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wide pins allow the tail head to sit
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slightly above and neatly fit between
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the pin bones
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five points are for the front end
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ideally you want a wide and deep chest
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floor
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wide set legs that are straight and
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squarely placed and smooth blending from
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the neck to the shoulder blades that are
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tight to the chest wall
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two points are for the back or loin
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ideally you want a strong and straight
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back and a level top line
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two points for stature you want a tall
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cow with long leg bones that are still
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proportionate to the rest of the body
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stature can also vary depending on the
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breed and age
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and then one point for breed
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characteristics overall you want a
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balanced cow with style
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femininity and a clean cut head and
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following along with other
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characteristics specific to that
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animal's breed
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in this video we'll review breed
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characteristics for the holstein breed
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and also the air shear breed
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the next section is dairy strength which
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accounts for 25 points of the scorecard
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dairy strength is a combination of
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dairiness and strength which supports
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sustained production and longevity
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ideally you want a cow that's open and
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angular and feminine with corresponding
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strength
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width of chest spring of rib and
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substance of bone that remains refined
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this is where body condition score or
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bcs comes into play
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bcs is a visual and tactile evaluation
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of body fat reserves using a five point
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scale with a quarter point
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increments depending on the stage of
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lactation the animal is in
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a score of one denotes a very thin or
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frail cow with low milk production
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and poor overall health while 5 denotes
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an excessively fat
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cow with poor dieting joint stress and
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could lead to potential heart and
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breathing problems
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anywhere between a 2.5 and a 3.5 is
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ideal body condition
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for a dairy animal it also depends on
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their lactation stage
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but this type of body condition score
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ensures the best health for the animal
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and most efficient conversion ratio of
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feed to milk production
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which is also most profitable for the
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farmer
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now as we break down the 25 points
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dedicated to dairy strength
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the first allocation is eight points for
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ribs
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ideally you want ribs that are wide
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apart and an animal with a wide spring
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of rib or a large barrel
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you want six points dedicated to the
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chest you want a deep and wide chest
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floor
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this shows capacity for vital organs
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four points are for barrel
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you want a long deep and wide-bodied cow
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because this allows the capacity for the
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digestive and reproductive system to
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work efficiently
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this also allows a larger body to carry
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a larger calf so this animal will most
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likely have less issues
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fitting a large calf within her as she
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carries it for the gestation period
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two points are for thighs ideally lean
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two points for neck you want a long lean
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neck that blends smoothly into the
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shoulders
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two points for withers you want these to
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be sharp with chine prominent
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one point for skin you want thin loose
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and pliable skin
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this shows that the animal is hydrated
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properly
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the next section of the scorecard is
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rear feet and legs that accounts for 20
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percent of the total points
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the rear feet and legs indicate the
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cow's mobility or
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its ability to be mobile and walk around
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well the legs support the body and
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seeing as though these are big animals
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it's important to have strong legs that
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are structurally sound to support them
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over the many years of their life
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especially when they're pregnant and are
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carrying a heavy calf
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five points go to movement this really
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refers to the use of the animal's feet
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including the length and the direction
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of step when walking naturally
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the animal's stride should be long and
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fluid with the rear feet
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nearly replacing the front feet a good
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gait shows a cow who is balanced and can
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walk on all terrain
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safely
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[Music]
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three points go to the rear legs as
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viewed from the side
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looking at the rear legs of a cow from
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the side you want a slight set or curve
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to her legs
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you don't want a cow to have legs that
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are too straight because the legs have a
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tendency to get behind them
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and can also shift the rump angle two
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points for hawks
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you want adequate flexibility and also
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freedom of swelling
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one point for bone you want flat and
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clean refined bones
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and then one point for pasterns for
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pasterns you want them to be strong and
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short with flexibility
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a way to observe the strength of the
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pasterns is to watch as the cow walks
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be on the lookout to see how low her dew
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claws or the two small bone appendages
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on the back of her rear feet
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get to the ground the higher off the
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ground they are the stronger the
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pasterns are
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the last section of the scorecard and
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the most important
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is utter which accounts for 40 of the
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scorecard
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the utter is the most important part of
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the cow hence the highest percentage
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these traits contribute to a high milk
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yield and a long productive life
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the more capacious and well-attached and
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utter that a cow has
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the longer it's going to last and the
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more milk it's going to produce over
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time
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10 points are dedicated to utter depth
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ideally you want a deep
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enlarged and capacious utter however you
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also want it to be held high above the
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hock indicating how youthful it is
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ideally you want the utter floor to be
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two inches above the hock
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however depending on the age of the
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animal that can be
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varied nine points are for the rear
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udder attachment
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ideally you want a high and wide rear
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utter attachment that firmly and
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seamlessly attaches to the body wall
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five points are fatigue placement you
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want the teeth to be centrally located
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under each quarter if they're too close
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together or too far apart
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it can make it difficult to milk the
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animal five points are for utter cleft
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you want a strong suspensory ligament
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indicating the clear halving of the
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udder
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the cleft is also the main ligament
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that's pulling the teats
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in so that they're centrally located if
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the teats are usually on the outside of
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the utter
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or are not centrally located it's most
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likely because the cow has a weak
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cleft five points are for four utter
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you want to firmly attach and smoothly
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blended for utter that blends into the
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body wall
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three points are for teats you want
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cylinder shaped teats that are uniform
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size and medium length so that the teat
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cups on a milking machine can easily
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attach to them
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and finally three points go to utter
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balance and texture
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ideally you want a level at our floor
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that has a lot of veining to show high
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blood flow to the mammary tissue
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you also want equal size quarters
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and that concludes the dairy unified
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scorecard
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this may seem confusing and a little
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overwhelming but don't be afraid to
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rewatch certain parts of this video and
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re-familiarize yourself with the anatomy
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of the dairy animal with a diagram in
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the beginning
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it's going to take a lot of practice to
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perfect your ability to judge animals
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but a good rule of thumb is to always go
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off of this scorecard and the
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percentages
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allocated to each section making utter
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the most important part of the dairy cow
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now that we've covered the dairy unified
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scorecard and we've also gone over a lot
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of common dairy judging terminology
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let's try some practice classes in the
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next section of this video
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[Music]
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thanks for watching and stay tuned for
00:10:02
part two of dairy
00:10:04
judging oral reasons where we'll
00:10:05
practice some judging classes
00:10:07
as well as learn how to format oral
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reasons so next time you're dairy
00:10:11
judging or judging any livestock
00:10:13
you'll be able to effectively judge the
00:10:15
class and confidently give a set of oral
00:10:17
reasons
00:10:19
thanks for watching and don't forget to
00:10:21
check out part 2.
