Scorecard
This is one of the most important tools any breeder may use.
Judges must also know this, along with other criteria to become a judge.
Notice the emphasis is on a well balanced animal.
Dairy Character=The willingness to give milk and the strength to sustain it.
Judges must also know this, along with other criteria to become a judge.
Notice the emphasis is on a well balanced animal.
Dairy Character=The willingness to give milk and the strength to sustain it.
Our scorecard helps judges visually compare attributes of one doe to another based on a common standard. Judges use the scorecard to evaluate animals based on how they look in the show ring on a particular day. However, I believe that our scorecard is built not only to identify and reward does that look great on the day of the show; but to also recognize those animals that promise longevity in milk production; e.g., does that are more likely to milk well over their lifetimes.
The way a doe's udder looks on the day of the show is only one of four categories used to evaluate the doe's ability to produce milk. In other words, all categories on the scorecard should be used by the judge to identify a strong milk producer - not just the points assigned to the mammary. Although the mammary system is the most visual aspect of the doe's ability to produce milk, it is certainly not the "end all and be all" of defining a good dairy animal. Here are just a few examples of how other scorecard elements identify does who are strong milk producers:
* Her legs and pasterns must be strong and straight to enable her to carry extra weight to go up and down from the milk stand numerous times without fatigue or injury. She must have appropriate strength of bone to support the physically straining activity of carrying kids and producing milk numerous times over her lifetime (general appearance).
* Her sharpness and angularity indicates porous, flatter bone
structure of the proper Ph to maintain her body's chemical balance to sustain an extended lactation cycle (dairy character).
* She must be smoothly blended at the shoulders, withers and straight over the topline so she doesn't break down over numerous freshening’s and will be able to sustain the extra weight of carrying milk and kids. Poor skeletal composition indicates joint and structural problems that could cause future injury/lameness which could minimize her future ability to produce milk (general appearance).
* A doe must have a good bite in order to efficiently consume
nourishment to convert to fuel and to the production of milk
(symmetrical face & good bite = general appearance).
* Because milk is formed from the passing of blood through the milk glands, her lungs must be large enough to take in a good deal of oxygen to enrich and increase blood volume to ultimately produce more milk (width in the chest floor and width/depth of barrel - body capacity).
* She must have increasing depth and width of body to allow room to carry multiple kids (body capacity) and to allow sufficient room for good udder attachment in the front, sides and rear (body capacity - width between the hocks and in the escutcheon).
* She should be level over the topline in the loin and rump to
encourage higher rear udder attachment and to avoid chance of mammary injury or infection from an udder too close to the ground (general appearance).
Courtesy of Denice Hasty
The way a doe's udder looks on the day of the show is only one of four categories used to evaluate the doe's ability to produce milk. In other words, all categories on the scorecard should be used by the judge to identify a strong milk producer - not just the points assigned to the mammary. Although the mammary system is the most visual aspect of the doe's ability to produce milk, it is certainly not the "end all and be all" of defining a good dairy animal. Here are just a few examples of how other scorecard elements identify does who are strong milk producers:
* Her legs and pasterns must be strong and straight to enable her to carry extra weight to go up and down from the milk stand numerous times without fatigue or injury. She must have appropriate strength of bone to support the physically straining activity of carrying kids and producing milk numerous times over her lifetime (general appearance).
* Her sharpness and angularity indicates porous, flatter bone
structure of the proper Ph to maintain her body's chemical balance to sustain an extended lactation cycle (dairy character).
* She must be smoothly blended at the shoulders, withers and straight over the topline so she doesn't break down over numerous freshening’s and will be able to sustain the extra weight of carrying milk and kids. Poor skeletal composition indicates joint and structural problems that could cause future injury/lameness which could minimize her future ability to produce milk (general appearance).
* A doe must have a good bite in order to efficiently consume
nourishment to convert to fuel and to the production of milk
(symmetrical face & good bite = general appearance).
* Because milk is formed from the passing of blood through the milk glands, her lungs must be large enough to take in a good deal of oxygen to enrich and increase blood volume to ultimately produce more milk (width in the chest floor and width/depth of barrel - body capacity).
* She must have increasing depth and width of body to allow room to carry multiple kids (body capacity) and to allow sufficient room for good udder attachment in the front, sides and rear (body capacity - width between the hocks and in the escutcheon).
* She should be level over the topline in the loin and rump to
encourage higher rear udder attachment and to avoid chance of mammary injury or infection from an udder too close to the ground (general appearance).
Courtesy of Denice Hasty
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