Hock Injuries
How to assess:
There are several ways to assess hock injuries. Here, we provide 2 scoring systems that are commonly used in the dairy industry. You can choose a system that fits your interests and test your repeatability using the associated scoring system.
Dairy Well: hock injury scoring
Score and count only the WORST hock of each cow.
Which animals to assess:
- Lactating cows
- Dry cows
- The number of dry and lactating cows assessed is determined by the sample size calculator
- All cows in hospital pen
- If there is a designated lame cow or chronic pen it must be scored and cows currently in the hospital pen will be evaluated for presence of score 3 lesions to ensure treatment
When to assess:
- Take hock injury scores while lactating cows are being milked in the parlor
- If there is only one group of cows, score the entire group if possible before or after milking if lock-ups are available
- Cows kept in tie stall barns and not normally released after milking will be scored standing in the tie stalls
Goal:
To assess the softness of the resting area.
≤1% of the herd should have severe hock scores (score 3).
≤1% of the herd should have severe hock scores (score 3).
Score 1 - Normal
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Score 2 - Moderate
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Score 3 - Severe
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National Dairy Farm Program: hock injury scoring
Score and count only the WORST hock of each cow.
Which animals to assess:
- Lactating cows
- Dry cows
The number of animals assessed is determined by the sample size calculator using the total number of animals on the farm.
When to assess:
- Hock lesions can be assessed at any time
Goal:
<5% should score a 3 when hock and knee scores are combined (the most severe score becomes the overall score).
The tests on this website score hocks and knees separately for more practice.
The tests on this website score hocks and knees separately for more practice.
Score 1
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Score 2
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Score 3
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