The Dairy Sheep Udder Assessment System is a new tool created by Bee Tolman, Andrea Mongini and Johanne Cameron with support from Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) and the Society des Elevurs de Moutons de Race Pure du Quebec.
The goal in using this udder assessment system is to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your milking string’s udder characteristics, so that you can make great improvements in udders and milk the flock without the use of Sagi hooks or machine-stripping; and reduce the number of ewes culled for time-consuming or structurally-blown udders, and therefore reduce the percentage of your lamb crop retained as replacements. Ultimately, the goal is to make your flock more milkable … without sacrificing your flock’s milk production.
To use the guide, download the four files available on this page, The Farmer’s Guide to Dairy Sheep Udder Assessment (PDF), Scoring Reference Card (PDF), Barn Udder Score Sheet (PDDF) and Trait Score Calculator (XLS).
Bee Tolman presented this new assessment system at DSANA’s 2025 Dairy Sheep Symposium. Members of DSANA can watch the recording of this presentation here: An Udder Conformation Assessment System for Dairy Sheep Farms. Recordings of Introduction to Udder Conformation by Andrea Mongini and Improvement of the Conformation of the Mammary Gland in Dairy Sheep by Johanne Cameron are also available for review. Not a member and want to watch? Join DSANA today!
