Rear leg set

Rear leg set is scored in the range from 1 to 9 points, corresponding with straight legs to sickled legs (see bottom part of figure 1).


The relation of rear leg set with the culling rate
(1 = straight, 9 = sickled)

The relation between rear leg set and the culling rate is shown in the figure. It may be noticed that first-lactating heifers with scores between 4 and 7 for rear leg set show the lowest culling rates. The differences between these classes are, however, very small. Heifers with straight legs (score = 1) or very sickled legs (score = 9) have significantly higher culling rates of about 10% higher. For this reason it might be concluded that rear leg set is an optimum trait in regard to herdlife.


Veepro Magazine, April 1995, Volume 21

Dutch Cattle