Where to Look


  • Knee injuries: both front legs at the knee, ideally viewed from all angles or at least from a rear view
  • Hock injuries: both rear legs at the hock, viewed from the side
  • Broken or docked tail: the entire tail
  • All other health measures: viewing from either the animal's left or right, evaluate the head, neck, body, and rump, the outer-facing side of the closest legs and the inner-facing side of the furthest legs. Viewpoints for measures such as body condition and hygiene vary depending on which assessment is being used; please see individual measure pages for more information.

For measures that require looking at more than one body part, the worse side will be scored. For example, if the left hock has no damage and is scored a 1, but the right hock has a swelling and laceration and is scored a 3, the cow receives a 3 overall for hock injuries.