Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0
Conclusion
Be aware that observations
of the hair can be very tell-tale
of an animal’s potential.
Most people look at livestock without really seeing them.
Healthy, contented, mineralized cows.
Note dark line on cow at left side of photo.
Thank you to Gerald Fry for permission to
use illustrations from the F. Guenon book,
and photos of bulls from James Drayson’s
book “Herd Bull Fertility”.
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CROPP Cooperative
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0
Reading the
Bovine Hair Coat
You can tell a great many
things about bovines just by
“reading” their hair coats – of
course you have to know what
to look for. The hair coat of a
healthy bovine can give you indications of health, production,
components, reproduction and
behavioral traits. Long haired,
poorly mineralized, deficient
cows will not show much.
They are hard to read.
F. Guenon of Germany
spent his life studying the hair
coats of cattle and published
his findings in 1888. It was
reprinted in English in 1913
by Thos J. Hand in New York.
Most of the information in this
bulletin comes from his work.
There are three external
swirls of hair that are health
indicators:
Pancreatic Swirl –
Located ahead of the udder
on the lower body. Works
forward and enlarges with
pregnancy. Shows reproductive efficiency.
Dr. Paul Dettloff
Staff Veterinarian
Thymic Swirl –
This is on both sides of neck,
starts at lower jugular furrow
and comes up. The hair is
finer and lays forward and up.
Shows a good healthy
immune system.
Adrenal swirl –
From the ribs back to the para
lumbar. May be a shade lighter
than surrounding hair. Finer
hair laying forward. Tenderloin
area. Shows that the endocrine
system is working.
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CROPP Cooperative
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0 Reading Hair Coats/Dr.Paul Dettloff
Top Line Cowlick
The top line cowlick is
located from the middle of
the shoulder blades forward.
Animals with a large thorax,
big heart and high lung capacity have the top of their
shoulder blades at the same
height as the backbone. Legs
should be on the outside wide
stance. Cattle with slab sides
and high backbones have a
small thorax, more respiratory
problems and are weak-lunged
cows. A cowlick that stands
straight up shows a cow with
high estrogen. Virgin heifers
will often have a cowlick that
stands straight up when they
start cycling. If the whole mane
area stands up, the hair is dull
and long and the animal’s a
little unthrifty, you may have a
magnesium deficiency in feed.
Any animal that is 3½ – 4
months pregnant should have
a swirl that lays down since
they have lower estrogen and
High butterfat
Estrogen levels will show in the cowlick.
Lower left: nice foreward cowlick. Lower right: young heifer showing estrogen from cycling.
higher progesterone from
yellow body-corpus luteum of
the ovaries.
Butterfly Udder Swirls
On the back of the rear
quarters, check for a butterfly
wing on each quarter. This is a
sign of high milk protein. In a
50-cow herd, you will usually
see two to four cows that will
vividly display this and they will
be very high milk protein cows
consistently. Watch the quality
of the hair on the udder. Long,
coarse hair means the cow will
not be a good milker. Fine,
short, silky hair on the udder
is most desirable. It indicates a
good producing cow.
Narrow and wide escutcheons. Milk quality and quantity will be better if the escutcheon is wide.
The Escutcheon Area
These two escutcheons indicate high milk
production and high butterfat.
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Butterfly udder swirls can be seen in high milk protein cows. Look for short, silky hair on the udder.
The escutcheon runs from
below the vulva to the top of
udder. It also runs from the udder to the navel. The escutcheon goes from the center of
the four teats up to the vulva.
The width may reach out onto
the back of the thighs going
from the middle of one thigh
to the other almost forming a
shield. Guenon classified the
escutcheon into ten groups.
The hair of the escutcheon
is shorter, finer, softer and
silkier and at first glance it
may appear freshly shaven. All
bovines, domestic or wild, are
marked with a visible escutcheon. This is also shown in
males. When selecting a bull,
use the escutcheon to guide
you. This characteristic is transmitted to the offspring.
The hair usually flows upward, opposite the other hair.
The area from udder to navel
has not been studied. To view
the escutcheon, stand behind
and move sideways slightly
in good light to see the area.
Brushing the hair downward
may help show it also.
A newborn is not easy to read.
Wait until 6–8 weeks because
the downy, velvety hair falls
off, leaving the escutcheon
quite naked. At 7½–8 months,
even a fetus will show an escutcheon. Check your aborted
calves to view the escutcheon.
The escutcheon hair is duller
in color.
If you only remember a
few details about reading hair
coats, remember these: If the
escutcheon is wide, milk quality and quantity will be higher.
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Virtually no escutcheon.
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
If the escutcheon is narrow
or missing, the cow will not
give as much milk. If the hair is
long and sparse, the milk will
be low in protein and butterfat.
If the hair is short and furry, it
will be rich milk. If the thigh
area is wide, way out to the
middle of the thigh, it will be
high butterfat and a lot of milk.
Butterfat can also be evaluated by scratching the skin
from the inner thighs to the
vulva. If it is yellowish and
you get a little fatty, flaky, oily
substance, you have a high
butterfat animal.
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0 there is a downward interruption of the escutcheon area, it
means less milk and a downgrading of the female line of
genetics. When downward
feathers appear in this area, it
is not a good sign. Sometimes
downward feathers of long
coarse hair will appear next to
the vulva in the buttocks area
or escutcheon area. This means
shorter milk flow and a drop
off after becoming pregnant.
Reading Hair Coats/Dr.Paul Dettloff
Guenon’s Escutcheon
Classifications
1st class: Flandrines –
Wide escutcheon that is way
out onto the thighs and covering the entire udder. Ascending silky hair flowing up with
a different colored tint. Two
feathers of descending oval
patches on
the back of
the udder.
The finer
the hair,
the better. The greater the
width on the thighs means
more butterfat. The width up
to the vulva means a large
quantity of milk holding deep
into lactation. On these cows,
check the tail for yellow, flaky
butterfat on the tail end and
yellow secretions in the ear.
This shows up more on
colored breeds than on
Holsteins.
Long, course udder hair
Narrow, widening at base
Double escutcheons
(above and below left & right)
Butterfat indicators on the ears and tail
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Also, check the skin on the
switch of the tail. High butterfat cows will have a yellow
flaky dander there. Another
butterfat indicator is the inside
of the ear. This sometimes will
be very yellow and almost oily.
I have witnessed this especially
on Jerseys. If the escutcheon is
wide at the vulva and narrow
in the middle take an average.
Don’t judge the escutcheon
a few days before calving, as it
will expand like a flower. Wait
until after calving. Whenever
F. Guenon‘s
study of the
hair coats of
cattle was
originally published in 1888.
It was reprinted
in English
in 1913. .
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CROPP Cooperative
2nd class:
Left-handed Flandrine –
These appear the same as the
flandrine except the hair runs
up to the
left. Same
principles
apply for
judging
them as
the flandrine class.
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
5th class: Bicorns –
This group has a bifurcated
escutcheon and the left one is
usually longer (taller). These
are not rare and are seen often
in Brown Swiss. The same
principles apply as with other
classes. The bigger, taller and
wider, the
better.
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0 6th class: Double Selvedge –
8th Class: Square Cows –
The escutcheon is widely split,
all the way down onto the
udder.
The top of the escutcheon
is shaped like a carpenters
square. The same
principles apply.
Fairly good producers
3rd class: Selvedge –
This group is very similar to
the previous ones, but has
a narrowing of the escutcheon as it approaches the
vulva. This characteristic can
get dramatically smaller,
revealing a
poor cow.
9th Class:
Limousines
Poor producer
7th Class: Demijonngs –
Same production principles
apply.
4th class: Curve lines –
This group tends to have
a rounding curve on the
top of the escutcheon that
doesn’t reach the vulva.
These can be good milkers
if the bottom part is wide.
They will not hold up
as long in the
lactation.
10th class: Carresines
The last two classes
tend to be lower
producing groups.
Good one
Poor cow
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Reading Hair Coats/Dr.Paul Dettloff
Other indicators to observe: The vulva should be
larger and void of hair, except
for a few coarse hairs on the
bottom. A large fleshy vulva
means more estrogen and
stronger heats.
Any long, coarse hair on
the udder is not a good sign
for production
A thick-skinned cow is not
a quality milk cow. Cows with
thin, silky skin tend to be better
for dairy. This was noticeable
on cows that someone did a
DA (displaced abomasums)
survey on. Skin thickness varies
very noticeably. When sewing cows up, the skin of some
would be so thick it was hard
to get the needle through the
skin. For others, it was a snap.
The thin skinned cows that
were a breeze to sew on did
a better job. Any incision that
got infected always seemed
to be on a thick-skinned, big
,coarse-haired animal. I must
add that very few got infected,
but a few do become infected
in a barn atmosphere.
For some reason, butterfat
on the tail and in the ear is
negated by feeding alfalfa hay.
The hair is definitely harder
to read in the winter months,
especially with long hair. The
escutcheon area is easier to
read than the pancreatic,
thymic and adrenal swirls. The
best time to read cow hair is
when it is on pasture and the
hair is shed, out in the sun. On
healthy cows, when you look
closely it is often very evident.
The hair is a road map.
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CROPP Cooperative
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0 Reading Hair Coats/Dr.Paul Dettloff
Bulls
If using herd bulls for cleanup or full time, they show the
same things in their hair as
cows do, except for pregnancy.
The first place to look at a bull
is his head. On the top of the
poll, the hair should be coarse
and wavy or coarse and curly
and it should lie down, not
stick up. If it sticks straight up,
that means infertility.
Anyone using a bull should
read “Herd Bull Fertility,” by
James Drayson and published
by Acres; and anyone milking
cows should read Charles Walters and Gerald Fry’s “Reproduction and Animal Health,”
also published by Acres.
Fine, straight hair, even if it
isn’t standing up yet (that takes
a few months) is a sign of infertility also. Neck hair should
also be curly and coarse, not
straight and fine. To compare,
go look at a big steer and see
his fine, straight hair.
Compare the curly neck hair on the young bull in the foreground with the steer behind him.
Checking the scrotum –
A bull should have very fine,
downy hair on the scrotum.
Long, coarse hair on the scrotum is not a good sign. The
scrotum should not have an
inverse V on the bottom in the
middle. The bottom should
be rounded. A bull with a big
V will throw a female with a
weak suspensory ligament in
her udder. Check the bottom
of both testes. The epididymis
should be the size of a walnut
and the testes should be even
in size. Always check for teats
near the base of or on the
scrotum. They will not produce
a nice uddered cow. All four
teats should be neatly placed
ahead of the scrotum.
For length and width,
check Drayson’s book to see if
your animal fits into the proper
parameters. The tail is a good
fertility indicator, also. The
hair on the tail from the head
down should be like the poll,
curly and coarse.
There should be a good
hump on the neck and withers.
This is the testosterone hump.
No or little hump means no or
little testosterone for the bull’s
sex drive.
Periods of infertility displayed in the horns
A bull’s horns can give a life
history. Dairy bulls are usually
dehorned for safety, but some
beef bulls are not. Fertile bulls
will have a red, rosy color on
the basal 2/3 and the rest will
be creamy white before puberty. After about three and a
half years of age, the color will
become an olive green. If interrupted with a white band near
the base, it means the bull went
through a period of infertility.
Coarse, wavy tail hair – high fertility
Fertile bull showing color at base of horns
Above: young bull getting curly poll hair
Below: an older bull showing curly hair
Look for deep body, well muscled, wide thorax,
strong male head. The yearling above already
looks more masculine than the two-year old bull
below it (in the inset).
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Fine, silky hair on scrotum –
note cleavage between testes
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CROPP Cooperative
Organic Farming Technical Bulletin
Number 5 ~ Edition 1.0 Reading Hair Coats/Dr.Paul Dettloff
Healthy animals will show
a dark line on their top line.
This indicates good minerals
and trace minerals.
Proper proportion. Notice the grazing stance – cows always graze this way.
Typical cow today with long legs, backbone
sticking way above the shoulder blades
and narrow, slab-sided chest. This is a
pneumonia-weak animal waiting to get sick.
Very poor longevity.
A dark line on the top line indicates good
minerals and trace minerals.
Body Conformation
We lost good body conformation when we locked cows
up and gave up grazing.
Large capacity is always
desired, with legs wide set on
both males and females. The
cow on the horizon should be
two-thirds body and one-third
legs, with a big wide chest,
a big heart and lung capacity. Look for wide shoulders
with the backbone even with
the shoulder blades. The legs
should be wide apart and
short. The cannon bone should
be shaped like an hourglass.
Wide shoulders – backbone even with the
shoulder blades.
Wide stance; notice the cannon bone. This
should be like an hour glass.
High backbone, low shoulder blade – should be level.
Pre-breeding heifer. Use the escutcheon in
culling heifers when selling off oversupply.
Happy Lines
Photos above and left:
happy lines
Happy lines appear in the
mid-thoracic area as horizontal
parallel lines in the skin. These
lines on a cow’s sides are associated with a healthy relaxed
animal on high forage. It shows
up most on grazing cows.
Some herds will run up to
40–50% with happy lines.
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Narrow, slab-sided
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