Judging Dairy Cows

Northland Age, Volume 5, Issue 24, 13 March 1936, Page 7

Judging Dairy Cows

At the Mangonui County Jubilee A. and P. Show Mr. N. R. Roper, assitant Secretary of the N.Z. Friesian Association gave an exhibition on the judging of dairy cows before an interested gathering of dairy farmers. The following are culled from Mr. Roper’s remarks : “The art of judging dairy cows is one which involves the highest powers of observation and the keenest sense of judgment on the part of the men who are called upon to place animals in order of merit in the show-ring. “When a judge enters a ring to comi<mence his duties he should not have a catalogue of the exhibits, nor should he have made a previous inspection of the exhibits in their pens. “The ideal shape for a show-ring is elliptical as this type of ring presents the maximum view points of the animals to the judge. In order to allow the judge plenty of space to work in, a show-ring should be large enough to allow the animals to be paraded around at a distance of not less than twenty feet from the judge when he stands in the centre of the , ring. “During the parade the judge made a general inspection of the animals. During this he noted particularly the dairy conformation which was indicr ated by the triple wedge shape as indicating the producing type of cow. He noted their general character, their style, how they carried their heads and the freedom- or otherwise of movement. As the animals walked towards him, the judge noted their width of chest and how they placed their fore-legs, whether they crossed them, which was a bad thing, or not. As the animals walked from him the judge watched particularly the roominess of the space for the udder. His general inspection enabled the judge to line up the animals in the ring in the order that they appealed to him. The judge then began his particular inspection of most, if not all the animals. “In the particular inspection the 4 main points a judge looked for were character, constitution, capacity, dairy quality and mammary development. “The judge laid great stress on character which was indicated by the head and carriage of the animal. An animal should stand squarely on its legs, hold its head up, and take notice of everything that went on around it. The face should be of medium length, clean cut, slightly dished, with width between the eyes, which should be large, bold and bright showing vitality. The muzzle should be broad and strong with the lower jaw well developed (not undershot). This strength of jaw indicates good grazing capacity, which is a most important point in this Dominion, where cattle live mainly on the grass they eat. “The constitution of a cow was determined by the spring of forerib,

width of chest which should have a broad floor, depth of chest, while large open nostrils, a large windpipe and plenty of room when viewed from behind between the forearm and the chest, were all signs of a good constitution. Good spring of forerib meant plenty of heart and lung room. “Capacity was absolutely essential, for no cow could be a high producer unless she had the capacity to consume and the power to digest large quantities of food. This was indicated by the spring of rib, which should be long, wide apart, broad, flat and well sprung. The condition of the hair and the quality of the skin were an excellent guide to the quality and digestive capacity of a cow. A loose, soft fairly thin skin with soft furry hair was most desirable, a thick skin or particularly harsh hair meaning lack of proper digestive capacity and is considered to be a serious fault. The quality of the bone has much to do in determining the dairy quality of a cow, strong, flat, hard bone being that which is best. The judge noted the openness of the vertebrae or backbone, the flatness and spacing of the ribs ; he ran his finger and thumb along the joints of the tail, he felt the bone in the face or in the lower parts of the legs, and from

these he “The judge examined shape and capacity—an udder should be well attached—high up at the rear and well forward underneath, and there should be no signs of the udder breaking down through lack of sufficient muscular attachment. The udder when milked out should almost collapse and be like a soft silky bag. The judge. should be watchful in the case of cows in milk to see that there is no weakness or unsoundness in any of the quarters, and it is generally recognised that before a judge made his final decision he should require all the cows to be milked out. The size and nature of the “milk veins” and the size of the “milk wells” were excellent guides to the producing powers of a cow as almost without exception large “milk veins” and “milk wells’ coincide with high production. “In addition to the above points, a

the (V.'-v ends with -VA? hip and tlrare .'-Jj with the pin nearly level with the most desirable, and a “sIop^HBHM was always penalised. The loin be levdi, or nearly so and any weakness there is a serious fault. “Fineness in the shoulders, which should be well set on to the body, was most desirable but judges had to take particular care not to confuse coarseness with the condition that a cow should put on during her dry periods. Heaviness in the brisket was not looked on with favour as it tended towards the beef type of animal. Any