I like to look for a beef cow udder that is attached high in the back, attached well forward in the front, with a level underline and small teats that point to the ground.
A weak hung udder results in a lowering of the floor or underline of the udder, it may even be below the hock on some cows and this makes it hard for the calf to nurse. In extreme cases the teats may drag in the muck as the cow walks, now that sounds appetizing for the calf to nurse. This will also cause the teats to point inward or outward instead of towards the ground when they are filled with milk. Officially I think they refer to these symptoms as a result of a weak suspensory ligament.
A correctly attached udder will add to a cow’s longevity and give her the ability to carry the udder above the hocks for many years and the teats will be pointing straight to the ground when filled with milk. Over time as the ligament becomes weaker you may notice a sagging of the udder until it is finally carried below the hocks. This also causes the teats to hang closer to the ground and point outward when filled with milk.
When viewed from the side the ideal udder will appear tight to the body, the floor or underline will be level and the four quarters will be level from front to rear and side to side. It is an undesirable trait if the udder slopes downward from front to rear, it should be level and attached well forward as well as the strong high attachment in the rear. Another sign of weakened ligament is an udder floor that becomes rounded.
The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) has developed an udder scoring system for use in all breeds of beef cattle. It is basically a 1 to 10 score with 10 being the best and rarely if ever actually used. A score of 9 is ideal and represents an extremely good udder while 1 is not at all desirable and usually represents a large pendulous or floppy udder with undesirable teats. Best time to score is 24 to 48 hours after the calf is born.
The udder scoring system does not provide for pigmentation to be a factor. However it is always good to remember that dark pigmentation will guard against sunburn from direct sunlight or reflected sunlight coming off of snow. Dark pigmentation is highly desirable.
Under the BIF scoring system the tighter the udder is to the body the higher it scores. An udder that is tight to the body will help a newborn calf locate the teats and get started to nursing quicker. It will also be less likely for the teats to ever drag in the mud.
