JUDGING OF DAIRY ANIMALS

JUDGING OF DAIRY ANIMALS

True dairy type is characterised by absence of fattening and fleshing with a capacity to eat large quantities of feed, which is utilised for milk rather than for meat production. The leanness of a dairy animal is not due to emaciation but due to function. When a dairy animal is dry she builds up reserves which are milked off after calving but a beef animal does not do so to that extent.

The true dairy type is usually described as ‘Wedge-shaped’ (side wedge, top wedge and front wedge) with her characteristic angular appearance.

The back and hind-quarters should be sparsely fleshed with little fat, but strong and well developed. The hip and pin bones should be wide apart and prominent to give a wide attachment for the udder. More than any other feature, the udder indicates the specialised function of dairy stock. It should be large and capacious with even development of all the four quarters which should not be fleshy or pendulous; the teats should be uniform and properly shaped and of a convenient size. The blood supply of the udder must be plentiful to provide adequate nutrients for manufacture of milk. In good milkers, it is indicated by the number of veins that standout under the skin of the udder itself and larger milk veins which can be seen along the base of abdomen. The udder should be of fine texture with fine skin and hair. Certain other features such as bright, alert and prominent eyes, openness of nostrils, large lung capacity; thin, soft, and pliable coat with fine hair and general evidence of thriftiness, give an indication of the constitution of the animal and her well being.

Sunken or dull eyes, harsh coat, pinched nostrils, sickle hocks, etc., are all signs of ill health or physical deformities which indicate lack of capacity to stand the strain of heavy production. Good quality in buffaloes/cows is indicated by soft skin of udder, fine bones, a flat rib, well sprung towards the base of the abdomen and with plenty of space between the ribs and a large food capacity with a minimum of fleshing. She must have the ‘dairy’ temperament’, which implies alertness combined with femininity and docility. A good dairy animal, further, should have a broad muzzle with strong jaws, sound feet and relatively straight pasterns. The buffalo/cow must have all the characteristics and points of the breed to which she is considered to belong.

Unified score cards for female and male animals as approved by the American Dairy Science Association are reproduced below. With certain modifications, these can be used for judging dairy animals here too.

SCORE CARD FOR A DAIRY COW

General Appearance-30 points

Attractive individuality, with femininity, vigour, stretch, scale, harmonious blending of all parts and impressive style and carriage. All parts of a cow should be considered in evaluating a cow’s general appearance.

Breed Characteristics
Head:	Cleancut, proportionate to body
Muzzle:	Broad with large, open nostrils
Jaws:	Strong	10
Eyes:	Large and bright
Forehead:	Broad and moderately dished; bridge of nose straight
Ears:	Medium size and alertly carried
Shoulder blades:	Set smoothly and tightly against the body
Back:	Comparatively straight and strong
Loin:	Broad and nearly level
Rump:	Long, wide, and nearly level from hook bones to pin	10
	bones; cleancut and free from patchiness
Thurls:	High and wide apart
Tail head:	Set level with backline and free from coarseness
Tail:	Slender
Legs and feet:	Bone flat and strong, pasterns short and strong, hocks
	cleanly molded
Feet:	Short, compact, and well rounded with deep heel and
	level sole
Fore-legs:	Medium in length, straight, wide apart, and squarely	10
	Placed
Hind-legs:	Nearly perpendicular from hock to pastern from the side
	view and straight from the rear view

Dairy Character-20 points

Evidence of milking ability, angularity and general openness without weakness; freedom from coarseness, giving due regard to period of lactation.

Neck:	Long,  lean  and  blending  smoothly  into  shoulders;
	cleancut throat, dewlap and brisket
Withers:	Sharp
Ribs:	Wide apart; rib bones wide; flat and long	20
Flanks:	Deep and refined
Thighs:	Incurving to flat and wide apart from the rear view,
	providing  ample  room  for  the  udder  and  its  rear
	attachment
Skin:	Loose and pliable

Body Capacity-20 points

Relatively large in proportion to size of animal, providing ample capacity, strength and

vigour.		10
Barrel:	Strongly  supported,  long  and  deep;  ribs  highly  and
	widely sprung; depth and width of barrel tending to
	increase toward rear
Heart girth:	Large and deep with well sprung fore-ribs blending into	10
	the shoulders; full crops; full at elbows; wide chest floor

Mammary System-30 points

A strongly attached, well-balanced capacious udder of fine texture indicating heavy production and a long period of usefulness.

Udder:	Symmetrical, moderately long, wide and deep; strongly	10
	attached, showing moderate cleavage between halves; no
	quartering on sides; soft, pliable and well collapsed after
	milking; quarters evenly balanced
Fore-udder:	Moderte length, uniform width from front to rear and	6
	strongly attached
Rear-udder:	High, wide, slightly rounded, fairly uniform width from	7
	top to floor and strongly attached	5
Teats:	Uniform  size,  of  medium  length  and  diameter,
	cylindrical, squarely placed under each quarter, plumb
	and well spaced from side and rear views
Mammary veins:	Large, long, tortuous and branching	2

SCORE CARD FOR A DAIRY BULL

General Appearance-45 points

Attractive individuality, with masculinity, vigour, stretch, scale, harmonious blending of all parts, and impressive style and carriage. All parts of a bull should be considered in evaluating a bull’s general appearance.

Breed Characteristics
Head:	Cleancut, proportionate to body
Muzzle:	Broad with large open nostrils	15
Jaws:	Strong
Eyes:	Large and bright
Forehead:	Broad and moderately dished, bridge of nose straight
Ears:	Medium size and alertly carried
Shoulder blades:	Set smoothly and tightly against the body
Back:	Straight and strong
Loin:	Broad and nearly level
Rump:	Long, wide, and nearly level from hook bones to pin	15
	bones; cleancut and free from patchiness
Thurls:	High and wide apart
Tail head:	Set level with backline and free from coarseness
Tail:	Slender
Legs and feet:	Bone flat and strong, pasterns short and strong, hocks
	cleanly molded
Feet:	Short, compact, and well rounded with deep heel and level	15
	sole
Fore-legs:	Medium in length, straight and wide apart, squarely placed
Hind-legs:	Nearly perpendicular from hock to pastern from the side
	view, and straight from the rear view
Dairy Character-30 points
Angularity and general openness, without weakness; freedom from coarseness.
Neck:	Long, lean, with medium crest, and blending smoothly
	into shoulders; cleancut throat, dewlap, and brisket
Withers:	Sharp
Ribs:	Wide apart; rib bones wide, flat, and long	30
Flanks:	Deep and refined
Thighs:	Incurving to flat; wide apart from the rear view
Skin:	Loose and pliable

Body Capacity-25 points

Relatively large in proportion to size of animal, providing ample capacity, strength, and vigour.

Barrel:	Strongly supported, long and deep; ribs highly and widely	12
	sprung; depth and width of barrel tending to increase
	toward rear
Heart girth:	Large and deep, with well sprung fore ribs blending into	13
	the shoulders; full crops; full at elbows; wide chest floor

Show-ring judging or actual selections on the farm may not be fully accomplished by the aid of a score card. However, the score card serves as a guide and a complete knowledge of it will be useful both to the beginner and to the experienced judge.

EVALUATION OF DEFECTS

A summary of the ‘Evaluation of Defects’ published by the American Purebred Dairy Cattle Association, is presented below to serve as an approximate guide in this connection.

A serious defect may be defined as a gross fault that impairs productive performance and/or is important from the hereditary standpoint that the judge must be very critical in its evaluation. Some are considered serious enough to constitute a disqualification.

In a show-ring, disqualification means that the animal is not eligible to win a prize; any disqualified animal is not eligible to be shown in the group classes. In slight to serious discrimination, the degree of seriousness shall be determined by the judge. In evaluation a specific condition it is usual to consider its practical importance, including prevalence of the characteristic in herds and the attitude of dairymen toward it.

Disqualifications

(i) Total blindness, (ii) Permanent lameness, (iii) One or more blind quarters in buffaloes/cows, (iv) Very abnormal milk from an impaired quarter, (v) Only one testicle or abnormal testicles in bulls, (vi) Evidence of sharp practice, and (vii) Freemartin heifers, unless proved pregnant.

Serious discriminations

(i) Wry face (twisted) sideways (marked), (ii) Parrot jaw (pronounced), (iii) Badly winged shoulders, (iv) Very abnormal tail setting, (v) Bucked knees, blemished hocks, crooked hindlegs, weak pasterns, badly bowed pasterns, extreme toeing-out in rear or a marked spread of toe, (vi) Evidence of arthritis, crampy hind-legs, (vii) An extreme lack of size, (vii) Very abnormal milk or a partially impaired quarter, (ix) Broken udder attachment, (x) Over conditioned and (xi) Uncalved heifers showing evidence of having been milked.

Slight discriminations

(i) Blindness in one eye, (ii) A slight tendency toward a parrot or overshot jaw in a female, (iii) Loose shoulder attachment with a tendency to wing, (iv) Capped hip (point of hip knocked down), (v) Slightly wry tail or other slight deficiency about the tail setting, (vi) Temporary lameness, (vii) Cropped ears, (viii) Slightly undersized, (ix) Temporarily abnormal milk, (x) A tendency toward weakness in udder attachment, (xi) Slightly unbalanced quarters, and (xii) Temporary or minor injuries which do not affect the animal’s usefulness.

EXERCISES

1.                  For the purpose of judging of livestock what is meant by a ‘serious defect’ and a disqualification?

2.                  Give a list of defects that may lead to disqualification of dairy animals in a show-ring.

3.                  What is meant by a ‘Score Card’?

4.                  Describe the characteristics of a desirable mammary system of a buffalo.

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