Scorecard & Faulting
Sr Doe
Jr Doe
Buck
GENERAL APPEARANCE
35
56
56
Style, upstandingness, length of bone, & femininity/masculinity (taller at withers than at hips, smoothly blended throughout with long bone pattern and an appearance of strength, balance, health, and vigor)
3
3
3
Front end assembly (arched shoulders with shoulder blade, point of shoulder, and point of elbow set tightly and smoothly against the chest wall, full in crops with moderate extension and development of brisket)
4
8
7
Head & breed character (head wide, of medium length, broad muzzled, with full nostrils, strong jawed, with alert eyes, clean-cut about the throat. Appropriate size, color, ears, nose, and other breed specifics)
6
10
12
Back: topline & rump (strong and straight with well defined vertebrae throughout, sloping gently downward from withers, level chine, loin straight & wide, rump strong, long, wide, nearly level, dropping slightly from hips to pins, wide & nearly flat between thurls, pin bones & hip bones wide apart and well defined. Hips nearly level with back. Tail head smoothly set slightly above pin bones)
8
13
10
Feet & legs: (front legs wide apart, clean kneed, straight, strong, set squarely underneath; rear legs with tendons well defined, well angulated in side profile through the stifle to cleanly molded hocks, nearly perpendicular from hock to pastern, pasterns of medium length, strong & resilient, feet short, strong, with tight toes pointed directly forward, heels as deep as toe)
14
22
24
Fore Legs
4
6
6
Rear Legs
4
6
7
Fore Feet & Pasterns
3
5
5
Rear Feet & Pasterns
3
5
6
DAIRY CHARACTER
15
22
22
Angularity (lean and free of excess fleshing, depth and width increasing from heart girth to rear barrel)
3
4
4
Neck (long, lean, clean cut, blending smoothly into all body junctions)
3
4
4
Skin & ribs (skin loose, thin pliable, with smooth slick hair coat; ribs long, flat, flinty, widely spaced, fore ribs well spring, lower ribs angled toward flank)
3
4
4
Thighs & flank (thighs, from side, moderately incurving from pin bone to stifle; from rear, clean and wide apart, highly arched and out-curving into the escutcheon to accommodate the udder and its attachment; flank well defined, deep, yet arched, free of excess tissue)
3
5
5
Withers (prominent, wedge-shaped, with the dorsal process arising slightly above the shoulder blades
3
5
5
BODY CAPACITY
15
22
22
Chest & heart girth (deep and wide, with well sprung fore ribs, full in crops and at point of elbow)
7
10
10
Barrel (strongly supported, long, deep, and wide, with well sprung ribs, increasing in depth and width toward rear with maturity)
8
12
12
MAMMARY SYSTEM
35
Fore udder (wide, full to the side, moderate forward extension, free of non-lactating tissue, blending smoothly into barrel)
6
Rear udder (capacious, high, widely arched into escutcheon; uniformly wide and deep to floor; moderately curved in side profile without protruding beyond the vulva, blending smoothly into escutcheon)
7
Teats (uniform in size, of medium length and diameter, proportionate to udder size, cylindrical in shape, ideally plumb when viewed from the side or rear, situated outward of center on the floor of each udder half, orifice size to facilitate ease of milking)
4
Support (strong medial suspensory ligament that clearly defines the udder halves, contributes to desirable shape and capacity, and holds the udder snugly against the body and well above the hocks. Lateral attachments strong, extending well down the inside of the thigh, contributing to a large area of attachment)
12
Quality: shape, balance, & texture (globular; of adequate capacity with due regard to stage of lactation; from the side, approx. one-third visible in front of the leg, one-third under the leg, and one-third behind the leg; texture soft, pliable, and elastic, well collapsed after milking, free of scar tissue, with halves symmetrical)
6
TOTALS
100
100
100
OFFICIAL JUDGES SCORECARD
Although points are not usually assigned to each animal in the show ring, an understanding of the scorecard is valuable in helping the judge know what is important in judging a class of animals.The ideal dairy goat may be briefly described as a long, wide, deep, strong animal, showing a great deal of angularity, openness, and freedom from excess tissue. The mammary system should be relatively large in relation to the size of the animal and should be very strongly attached, with two teats of proper size and placement to facilitate ease of milking. Feet and legs should be strong and durable. In order to assist judges and breeders in evaluating this ideal animal, the AGS Unified Score Card was developed.
The score card is divided into 4 major categories: General Appearance, Dairy Character, Body Capacity, and Mammary System. All four categories are used when evaluating senior does. Naturally, only three categories are used to evaluate bucks and junior does. No points are given to young stock and bucks from the mammary system category.
EVALUATING FAULTS
Breed Specific Faults are cosmetic and impact breed character, but do not affect the animal’s usefulness.General Faults are those that affect the usefulness of the animal. These faults are structural shortcomings that can impair productivity and longevity. Faults vary in degree on a comparative basis from slight to moderate to serious to very serious. Some faults are evaluated according to the degree or magnitude. As a result, the severity of each defect is often a subjective judgment call.
Working hand in hand with the scorecard is the faulting sheet. This guideline for evaluating faults is important because correct, strong conformation is closely related to productivity and longevity of production and life.
FAULT CATAGORIES
Slight to Serious Faults:These faults may be so minor that they are hardly noticeable, or they may be so extreme as to seriously impair function. Each one must be evaluated in consideration to the area of the score card in which they apply. The more serious the fault, the more important it would be in regards to placings and reasons. Faults that are indicated to be less serious in a particular breed take into consideration that the breed is structurally different and can cope with such “faults” more effectively.
All goats have slight faults, and probably have a number of them. Serious faults will definitely tend to impact function and longevity. Structural faults are more serious than anything mentioned so far, and they are more serious in bucks than in does.
Moderate Faults:
Because all dairy goats do not look alike, breed specific requirements that are not met must carry discriminations so that breed differences may be maintained. These are observed where height, weight, and color define a breed more specifically in the breed standard to distinguish them from one to another. Minimum height and weight requirements for standard breeds areonly to mature animals (4 years old or more).
Moderate to Serious Faults:
Moderate or serious faults are observed when a breed specific quality is observed in a breed not intended to have this trait, for example; breeds other then Nubians having a roman nose. The characteristic is faulted according to magnitude of expression.
Serious Faults:
Serious faults impact function, productivity, and longevity. Breed specific faults in this area are those that tend to sacrifice breed character in regards to color and markings. Nubians lacking in head and ear type are addressed here.
Since the udder is so important, most serious faults pertain to it. The pendulous udder, hard, swollen udders, over distended udders, very uneven udders, and leaking orifices (provided the leak is not due to the fact that a milking was missed for show) are all serious faults because they indicate decreased production. An additional serious fault is natural horns (except in miniature breeds), since they are a menace to other animals.
Very Serious Faults:
These are faults that affect the animal’s usefulness so severely that a possible full point loss in its area of the score card may be assessed. Very serious faults include more udder problems because they interfere with the productivity of the animal. Too small an udder for the size of the doe, double orifices, extra teats on does, even if they have been cut off, are characteristics most breeders do not want in their genetic pool. Crooked faces in does and malformed feet are very serious faults because they interfere with the comfort and productive life of the animal. Since these faults are those that affect usefulness, there are no breed specific faults in this area
Disqualifications:
Some faults, especially those which will greatly impact the animal’s usefulness, or keep the animal from reproducing or accurately representing their breed, have to be considered disqualifications due to their seriousness.
GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING FAULTS
SLIGHT TO SERIOUSGeneral:
- Wry or broken tail
- Undershot or overshot jaw
- Close in hocks
- Large horn scurs or stubs (except in minis)
- Non-disabling lameness
- Enlarged knees
- Feet turned out
- Loose, winged, or heavy shoulders
- Narrow chest or pinched heart girth
- Short, shallow, or narrow body
- Low (swayed) back
- Steep rump
- Small boned for body size
- Bowed front legs, buck kneed
- Hind legs close
- Pasterns too long or soft
- TEATS: set close together, bulbous, extremely large or small, uneven in size, pointed sideways, not clearly delineated, small orifices or otherwise difficult to milk
- UDDER: lacking in attachment, too much or too little division between halves, beefy texture, pocket in fore udder, presence of scar tissue.
General:
- NONE
ALPINE:
- mature does under 30” or less than 135 lbs. mature bucks under 32” or less than 160 lbs.
- Does with true Toggenburg color and markings
- Does with all white color
- mature does under 28” or less than 130 lbs.
- mature bucks under 30” or less than 155 lbs.
- mature does under 30” or less than 135 lbs.
- mature bucks under 32” or less than 160 lbs.
- snipey muzzle; thin or weak neck; small, round or protruding eyes
- mature does under 28” or less than 120 lbs.
- mature bucks under 30” or less than 150 lbs.
- mature does under 30” or less than 135 lbs.
- mature bucks under 32” or less than 160 lbs.
- mature does under 30” or less than 135 lbs.
- mature bucks under 32” or less than 160 lbs.
- mature does under 26” or less than 120 lbs.
- mature bucks under 28” or less than 145 lbs.
- Few small white spots in hair of does
General:
- NONE
- Alpines, LaMancha, Oberhasli, Saanen, Sable, & Toggenburg: roman nose
- Nigerian Dwarf: roman nose; curly coat
- Pygmy: rump too long; coat wavy, curly, silky, too short or sparse, shallow or weak thighs; legs too long
General:
- Udder: pendulous, too distended to determine texture, hard or swollen (except in does just fresh), one half less than half the size of the other, misplaced or leaking orifice
- Natural horns (except in miniatures)
ALPINE:
true Toggenburg color and markings in bucks. All white color in bucks
NUBIAN:
straight face
OBERHASLI:
small white spots in the hair of does
SAANEN:
dark cream color, several dark spots in hair
TOGGENBURG:
black does, white stomach on does, white spot 1.5” in hair of does, few white spots in hair of bucks.
VERY SERIOUS
General:
- Udder lacking in size or capacity in relation to frame size and stage of lactation
- Extra teat on doe (even if it has been removed)
- Double orifice in teat on doe
- Crooked or malformed feet
- Crooked face on does
NUBIAN:
barely drooping ears
OBERHASLI:
small white spots in the hair of bucks
DISQUALIFICATIONS
General:
- Serious emaciation
- Total blindness
- Permanent lameness
- Blind (non-functioning) udder half
- Blind teat
- Double teat (bifurcal, or fused)
- Extra teat that interferes with milking (supernumerary)
- Extra teat on buck (supernumerary)
- Double orifice on buck
- Crooked face on buck
- Active mastitis or any other cause of abnormal milk
- Evidence of hermaphroditism
- Evidence of any inability to reproduce
- Evidence of myatonia
- Anything other than two normal, fully descended testicles in bucks
- Permanent physical defect, such as naval hernia
ALPINE: pendulous ears
LAMANCHA: anything other than gopher ears on bucks, anything other than true LaMancha type ears on does
NIGERIAN DWARF: pendulous ears, does over 22 1/2”, bucks over 23 1/2”
NUBIAN: upright ears, dished face
OBERHASLI: pendulous ears, all black bucks, large white spot 1.5” or greater in hair
PYGMY: naturally polled, roman nose, cannon over 4.6” in bucks or 3.7” in does, pendulous ears, does over 22 1/2”, bucks over 231/2”
SAANEN: pendulous ears, large dark spot 1.5” or greater in hair
SABLE: pendulous ears, pure white or solid light cream color
TOGGENBURG: pendulous ears, tri-colored or piebald, black bucks, white stomach on bucks, large white spot 1.5” or greater in hair of bucks