Livestock Judging 101

Livestock Judging 101

What is Livestock Judging?

The placing of 4 livestock animals in a designated class from "best to worst"

Livestock judging is the visual appraisal of an animal’s physical traits, including positive and negative features. The ultimate goal in judging livestock is to compare and contrast the four animals in a given class against one another, and then compare them to what is considered the “ideal” animal.

1. Market Hogs

2. Market Steer

3. Market Lambs

4. Market Goats

Market Animals

Ideal characteristics:

1. Muscle

2. Structure

3. Condition (amount of fat)

4. Balance and Eye Appeal

1. Market Hogs

2. Market Steer

3. Market Lambs

4. Market Goats

Market Animals

Ideal characteristics:

1. Muscle

2. Structure

3. Condition (amount of fat)

4. Balance and Eye Appeal

1. Breeding Gilts

2. Breeding Heifers

3. Breeding Ewes

4. Breeding Does

Breeding animals

IdeaL cHARACTERISTICS:

1. Structure

2. Feminity/Maternal

3. Depth of body

4. Balance/Eye appeal - "smooth made"

Practice time!

Multiple Choice

Which Market Hog is the most "ideal" Market animal?

Multiple Choice

Which Breeding Heifer is the most "ideal" Breeding animal?

Multiple Select

Select the characteristics you look for in judging a Market animal:

• Muscling

• Structure

• Head color

• Eye appeal

• Condition

Multiple Choice

Which Market Goat is the heaviest muscled?

Multiple Select

Select the characteristics you look for in judging a Breeding animal:

• Muscling

• Structure

• Head color

• Eye appeal

• Femineity

Multiple Choice

Which Breeding Ewe is the deepest bodied?

Multiple Choice

Which Market Steer is the most balanced?

THE END