ANIMAL SCIENCE CLASS : How to handle and describe a cow

(see photos on the previous post!)

First of all, we catch the heifers with a rope.

 

We put the halter around the ears and the muzzle. Sometimes it’s very hard to tie them up! They have got small horns but it’s not dangerous. We must be careful anyway! So we also touch their backs to calm them….

Then we attach the young cows to the feed fence with another rope. We align them.
 

The goal is to tame them and to determinate the five best animals of the herd. It is structural assessment.
 

We observe different parts of the heifers: the back legs, the pelvis width, the roundness of thurl, the topline, the shoulders, in order to assess them.

Then a pupil shows his top five, explains his choices and each heifer’s qualities and weaknesses  to the animal science teacher. The teacher asks questions of course!

Last but not least…..we detach the cows!