There is a tale as old as time that says a female with a poor udder will calve on the coldest, darkest night or at the most inconvenient time on the farm. We have all witnessed this, whether it is in the middle of a blizzard or ice storm, or right before a production sale, and either the calf needs help nursing or she must be milked out. 

When to score

Every year a female has a calf, she can be scored at calving for teat size and udder suspension. The best time to collect these scores is at the same time as birth weights on calves, within 24 hours of calving. 

How to score

Evaluate all four quarters of the udder. Select the combined worst quarter for both teat size and udder suspension. While both traits are scored on the same quarter, they are scored independently. 

For teat size, a score of 1 represents a very large and misshapen teat that likely requires assistance for a newborn calf to nurse, while a score of 9 represents a very small teat.For udder suspension, a score of 1 represents a very pendulous udder, while a score of 9 is a very tight udder held very close to the body cavity. 

Research shows extremes for either trait can have undesirable impacts on the calf. Unlike foot scoring, on the scoring scale, there is not an “ideal” score for teat size or udder suspension.

As with any trait that requires subjective scoring, it is extremely important to have the same person scoring an entire group to keep scorer consistency. In addition, it is important to score the two traits for how they truly are at calving, not how you want them to be. Not every female has the same udder.

Scoring guides can be ordered through the Angus Supply Store online or downloaded and printed here. Some members have said during calving season they change their phone background to the pictures from the scoring guide for quick reference.

How to submit

Scores should be submitted alongside other calf birth data. If submitting through AAA Login, in the calving book there are fields for teat size and udder suspension scores for the female that birthed the calf (whether the dam or recipient dam). If records are submitted via AIMS or through spreadsheets, you will also find fields alongside calving data.

If you need a refresher before calving season, view the short 6-minute video that explains not only how to score but also shows real-life videos and photos alongside the drawings on the guide to explain how scores were assigned to females.

Fiscal year 2023 data

Herds from across the country have embraced scoring udders. Looking at only the most recent fiscal year, herds from coast to coast scored udders at time of calving and submitted those scores to the Association. Figure 1 shows a heat map by numbers of herds by state submitting scores, with a darker color indicating more herds than a lighter color. 

FIG. 1: Herds submitting teat and udder scores by state.

Research EPDs released

As members quickly adopted scoring udders over the last few years, teat size (TEAT) and udder suspension (UDDR) research expected progeny differences (EPDs) were released in August to members who have been collecting and submitting scores on females. 

For more information on the research EPDs, read By the Numbers in the September 2024 Angus Journal.