My Cow 101
Cow:
- Good feet. Claws of similar size that point ahead. Should be some space between them. Hoof should have some depth on the back part, and the pastern needs to have some flex to it to provide cushion when walking.
- I want to see the legs under the cow. When she stands, I don't want to see the back legs sticking out at an angle like a show horse.
- tail head not attached too far forward. I like to see the tail hanging straight down, not curved around. This usually means the anus is positioned too far foward and there can be fecal contamination in the vulva. The anus should be straight up from the vulva.
- The pins should be lower than the hooks. There have been studies that show a negative correlation between between high pins and calving interval. Over the years, the pins will rise slightly on each calving. Get them too high, and the animal stands a greater chance of coming in open. Also, the higher the pins, the more likely an animal is to stand with her legs behind her.
- I want some space between the pins. More space here generally means more room in the birthing canal. I also want some space between the hooks and pins.
- Generally, I want to see some overall width and length in the hind end. I breed Shorthorns and the shows ruined the good beef shorthorns by reducing muscling and width. The Shorthorn breed in general doesn't have a problem with maternal traits, so increasing muscling in the hind end is not going to harm our milking or fertility. Not too much muscling though. I don't want my cows looking like bulls. Its all about balance.
- I want both depth and width throughout. On my ranch, it gets cool in the winter, so they need some rib for fat storage. I like to see a healthy amount of brisket as well.
- The neck should flow smoothy into the shoulders and then thicken up quickly into the ribs, ending in a solid hind end. If the hind end is smaller than the front quarters, I don't want the animal.
- a good bag is a given. I don't hunt for huge bags or lots of milk, as I've found that cows that don't deliver as much milk will often deliver higher quality milk. Again, its all about balance.
Caustic gave you some good advice, vis-a-vis checking the cow over when picking heifers, however, don't let a bad cow turn you away from a crackerjack of a heifer either. The bull has alot to do with as well. My father has 3 junk cows here that throw the worst steers every year, yet their heifers are almost always keepers, and we've got a few in the herd that produce extremely well. When he's not looking, the cows are still leaving because they need to produce every year 8)
A trick on picking good milking heifers: Check the folds of skin as they come off the bag. The further the folds (bag) stretch up the back of the heifer, the better milking that animal will be.
I'm sure there is more that I missed, but that should give you a start.
Rod
