F31 Judging Beef Heifers Some of the pictures and text contained in this material have copyright restrictions limiting their use. Use of this information.

F31 Judging Beef Heifers

Some of the pictures and text contained in this material have copyright restrictions limiting their use. Use of this information is for example

only and should not be reproduced without the permission of the owner.

Infovets Educational Resources – www.infovets.com – Slide 2

Steps to Judging Beef Heifers

1. Evaluate heifers from the ground up and from the rump (rear) forward

2. Rank the traits for their importance 3. Evaluate the most important traits first 4. Eliminate any easy placings in the class 5. Place the class based on the volume of the important traits


Ranking of Traits for Beef Heifers

1. Soundness and structural correctness 2. Capacity or volume 3. Style and balance 4. Degree of muscling 5. Femininity


Evaluating Soundness and Structural Correctness

When evaluating structure and soundness, attention should be given to the following areas:

1. Feet 2. Pasterns 3. Hocks 4. Knees 5. Rump 6. Shoulder


Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Feet

Feet turned out (not square)

Poor depthof heel

Hoof-skin junction too close to ground


Excellent foot

Good foot size that is square

Foot sits flatly on surface Good depth

of heel

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Feet


Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Pasterns

Pastern too weak

Pastern too straight


Excellent pasterns

Flex with strength

Nice set to pasterns

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Pasterns


Too straight (post-legged) Sickle hocked Cow hocked

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Hocks


Excellenthocks

Correct set to hocks (square, flat boned,

powerful)

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Hocks


Short and steep rumped from hooks

to pins.

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Rumps


Excellentrump

Long rumped and level from hooks to pins

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Rumps


Too straight in shoulder Too coarse through shoulder

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Shoulder


Excellent shoulderNice set and

smoothness to shoulder

Evaluating Soundness/Correctness: Shoulder


Evaluating Capacity or Volume

Capacity (volume) is determined by three factors: 1. Body width (rib shape)

Heifers should be wide bodied with good spring of rib 2. Depth of body

When viewed from the side, body depth should be at least ½ the distance from the top of the back to the ground

3. Length of body Heifers should be long bodied


Narrow bodied(no spring of rib)

Short bodied

Shallow rear flank



Excellent, wide open rib shape Excellent, uniform body depth



Evaluating Style and Balance

Style and balance is related to how well all the pieces of the heifer fit together. Points to consider include:

1. Straightness of top line 2. Balance between body width, depth, and length 3. Smoothness and angularity of front 4. Blending of the shoulder, ribs, and hip


Coarse shoulder

Thick neck and wasty dewlap

Coarse, opened shoulder

Short necked

Pinched in forerib



Good front-endSmooth, angular front

Excellent style and balanceStraight top line

Long, clean neck

Width, depth, and length balanced



Evaluating Degree of Muscling

To determine degree of muscling, evaluate the following: 1. Thickness through the center of the quarter when viewed

from the rear. 2. Width between rear feet when the heifer walks or stands. 3. Shape over the top.


Light Muscled

Very narrow

Average Muscled

Average width

Heavy Muscled

Good width



Great top shape (heavy muscled)



Evaluating Femininity

When evaluating femininity in heifers, attention should be given to:

1. Refinement of head 2. Length of the neck 3. Angularity of the neck and shoulder 4. Blending of the shoulder to the forerib


Not feminine

Is it a heifer ora steer?

Too thick through neck and shoulder

Coarse head



Not feminine

Too much shoulder

Excess hide in dewlap



Evaluating Femininity: Super Feminine

Refined head (narrow muzzle)

Long, clean neck

Clean, angular shoulder

Good blendingof shoulderto forerib


1 2

3 4

Example Beef Heifer Class I


Official Placing: 1 - 4 - 2 - 3 Cuts: 5 - 2 - 5

Heifer Class I


1 2

3 4

Example Beef Heifer Class II


Heifer Class II

Official Placing: 1 - 3 - 4 - 2 Cuts: 3 - 5 - 4

F31 Judging Beef Heifers Some of the pictures and text contained in this material have copyright restrictions limiting their use. Use of this information.

Documents

shoulder slide

straight slide

ground slide

bodied slide

femininity slide

infovets educational

evaluating capacity

excellent shoulder nice