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.

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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).

Take Repeatability Test

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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.