For certain measures, it is important to observe the animals at a specific time, either for ease of inspection, safety, or to best approximate the animal's health. Please keep these suggestions in mind when planning an audit to ensure you will be able to observe the proper groups of animals at the correct times.

Dairy Well

Lameness

To assess locomotion, the highest producing and oldest lactating cows should be observed when walking back from the parlor. At this point, they have been on their feet long enough to show any signs of lameness or injury if it exists, and they will likely be walking out in smaller groups (relative to when they were released from the parlor, as opposed to the large group that would enter the holding pen at the beginning). This will be the easiest time to observe their strides.

Hock and knee injuries

Both types of leg injuries should be observed when the group of lactating cows following those scored for lameness are being milked in the parlor. The parlor set-up will allow for the best access to knees and hocks, and the style of parlor will dictate how much of each part can be seen when scoring (i.e. if a herringbone parlor, all angles of knees can be assessed, but if a parallel parlor, often only the rear view can be assessed).

Measures to score in home pens

Other measures do not benefit the animals or evaluators by assessing them outside of the home pen. These include:

• body condition scoring
• hygiene scoring
• neck and body injuries
• broken or docked tails
• dehydration; access to and cleanliness of water
• freedom of space
• trainer placement
• thermal comfort
• lying surface

If lock-ups are present, it would be beneficial to use them in large pens of lactating and dry cows when assessing these measures.

National Dairy FARM Program

Measures are not time-sensitive under the FARM assessment, and can thus be scored anywhere.