Panel 4; Drawing 4. Udder Suspension Score 1: The median suspensory ligament is absent resulting in a loose and pendulous attachment of the udder. The udder suspends below the hocks and teats reside below the hock. The quarters are not level and teats are not perpendicular to the ground when filled with milk. Intervention is required at calving.
Intervention definitely required to avoid a spoiled quarter or mastitis. Replacements should not be kept from these dams and producers should cull these cows. Panel 4; Drawing 5. Teat size can vary considerably. Panel 5 below contains drawings of teat sizes associated with the BIF scoring system. As teat size becomes smaller, more symmetrical, and more central in placement on the quarter, it is more desirable. Teat size can be generally categorized as very small, small, intermediate, large, and very large.
It is seldom that cattle have the very small teat size. More common are the small, intermediate, and large teat size. As teat size becomes larger they tend to be thicker, less symmetrical, and suspend below the hock. Teat Score 9: Teats are very small in length, rounded at the ends, and symmetrical.
Teats are located in the center of the quarters and face perpendicular to the ground. Panel 5; Drawing 1. Teat Score 7: Similar to teat score of 9, but the teats are longer. Panel 5; Drawing 2. Teat Score 5: Teats are longer, larger in diameter, appear to be thicker, and are less symmetrical compared to teat size 9, 8, 7, and 6.
They may not be perpendicular to the ground or centered on the quarters. Panel 5; Drawing 3. John W. Gowen and Elmer R. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Accepted May Next Up:. Available On Air Stations. All Streams. Make a gift today to support the news you rely on! You make our reporting better. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email. Wikimedia Commons. Note: This edition of Ask Sam originally aired in February, But back to cows To date, those methods have been used in dairy cows mainly to assess pain associated to lameness or mastitis.
Recently, an udder pain score has been described for assessing pain due to udder engorgement in dry cows. After milking is ceased, mammary tissue becomes engorged with milk, causing intramammary pressure. Udder engorgement after dry-off reflects the high pressure within the udder. This pressure can lead to tissue damage which in turn causes pain. Udder engorgement determined using a digital algometer that is modified by welding a 2-cm washer at 2cm from the tip of the algometer Bach et al.
Drying-off causes physiological stress. Pain caused by high intramammary pressure after drying-off is accompanied by a stress response.
After an abrupt dry-off, high-yielding cows show higher udder pressure and a greater increase in the concentration of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, which is an indicator of chronic stress, compared with cows that are not dried-off abruptly. In addition, any novel or uncommon situation can trigger stress. Drying-off is usually associated with several management practices that could be perceived by the animal as stressors. For example, cows are usually moved to a different pen, regrouped with other cows and changed to a low-energy diet.
It is worth remembering that stress is additive and that the risk to suffer intramammary infections increases with the stress response. Ideally, pens should include a feeding trough long enough for all cows to feed at the same time minimum of 0. Identifying milk leakage, palpating the udder and checking for udder pain can be useful to estimate the incidence of welfare problems related to dry-off.
For instance, the use of one single dose of cabergoline at dry-off, as a potential dry-off facilitator, effectively reduces milk leakage, discomfort and pain from udder engorgement.
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