The Relation Of Inclination Of Rump To Inclination Of Udder, Production Ability And Breeding Efficiency

Abstract

In many cows the pin bones are lower than the hip bones, resulting in what is commonly called a rump. Perhaps the frequency of the sloping rump is decreasing somewhat. Ce'rtainly most breeders have discriminated against the sloping rump in their selection of breeding animals. Man's idea of beauty in the bovine long ago insisted that the rump should be level, in spite of the fact that most species of animals possess sloping rumps. Note the rarity of the level rump in the animals in the zoo or in the wild. Probably because the level rump was associated in man's mind with beauty, there have been developed over a period of years opinions that there are certain associated defects that are likely to accompany the undesirable sloping rump, some of them of economic importance. One such defect that received emphasis was that if the rump slopes the floor of the udder will be tilted because the floor of the udder parallels the rump, with a likelihood of the fore quarters being undeveloped. The following quotation from Van Pelt's Cow Demonstration emphasizes this idea.