"The Milk Mirror"

We were given a copy of an interesting article from the magazine "Acres U.S.A." found in the December 2007 issue. The article was written by Gerald Fry (I know the name, but can't quite place it. I think I may have read some stuff by him in the Stockman Grass Farmer). The article is entitled "The Escutcheon: 'Milk Mirror'". (Don't ask me how to pronounce that.) Anyway, it is fascinating to learn that good genetics in your cattle can be percieved in the animals coat. The article states "The escutcheon is the distinguishable figure or pattern of hair located at the hind end of the bovine. It is formed by the reversal of the direction of the hair."

In a nutshell, Mr. Fry says that the milking prowess of the bovine can be determined by the size, length of hair, and pattern of hair viewed while the animal is walking. The movement reveals the lower part of the udder, which is not completely shown when the animal is at rest.

By looking at the escutcheon as two parts that resemble a shovel: the spade and the handle. The spade part may go down from the top of the udder to below the rear teats and spread from thigh to thigh all the way down to the hocks. The handle connects to the spade at the top of the udder and rises upward toward the anus, and may include, the vulva. The wider and deeper the spade, the better. You're looking for two oval shaped (ascending) feathers just above the two hind teats. That is an indication of good, high butter fat milk production.

The wider the handle, the higher the quality and quantity of milk. There should be no feathers (the small areas of hair running in the opposite direction) of any kind on the handle. Their presence in this area indicates some measure of inferior production of the mammory system, and these animals will not be the top producers for butterfat and other desireables.

This requires deeper thought and study, I think. If we can learn to locate the clues to identify the good genetic capabilities in our bovine and breed them with other bovine with similar capabilities, we can foster good, wholesome, nutitious products to promote health for our families and our community.

It never ceases to amaze me how God, in His infinite wisdom, created everything we need to be healthy and help others be healthy as well.

Find this article in "Acres U.S.A" December 2007 issue.