Teat Scorer
Now available on iTunes App Store.
The Teat End Scorer App was developed at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. The app uses a graphical interface to score teats. Data stored includes herd name, herd code, scorer name, score date, pen id, cow id, hyperkeratosis score along with the presence of teat end congestion, teat barrel congestion, mouthpiece mark, chapped, warts and bovine herpes mammalitis.
To begin scoring, first enter the Herd Name, Herd Code (not required), Scorer Name, Date and Pen ID by touching the appropriate fields. For the Herd Name, Herd Code, Scorer Name, and Pen ID the key pad will appear. Touch Done after typing the name. By default, today’s date appears in the Date field. To change the date, touch the Date field and a datepicker will appear. Scroll the date fields until the desired date combination appears. Press Done to accept. Score cows by touching the New Cow button and entering a cow id in the CowID field. Press Done on the keyboard to save the Cow ID. Select a quarter to score (touch LF, RF, LR, or RR button) then touch a Hyperkeratosis score button (Normal, Smooth, Rough or Very Rough). Touch the plus button next to any of the teat conditions to further describe the scored teat. To “erase” an incorrect score touch the Undo button. Touch the next quarter button to begin the next record. When the cow is completely scored, touch the New Cow button and enter the new cow id and continue scoring her teats. For user convenience, data records are automatically saved and updated as the scoring process proceeds.
To aid in the teat score assessment, pictures and descriptions of the scores are included below.
| Hyperkeratosis Score | |||
| Hyperketatosis is caused by the action of the liner collapsing around the teat end. Liner compression creates microfissures in the stratum corneum and the cells respond by increasing the production of keratin, leading to a localized hyperplasia of the stratum corneum. The simplified 4-point scoring system approved by Teat Club International is used in this app (Mein et al., AABP-NMC International Symposium on Mastitis and Milk Quality in Vancouver, BC, Canada. September 13-15, 2001). |
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| Normal (1) | Smooth (2) | Rough (3) | Very Rough (4) |
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| Normal (N) – normal teat end with no ring around the teat canal | Smooth (S) – smooth raised ring or slightly rough ring with no keratin fronds | Rough (R) – a raised roughened ring with isolated fronds of old keratin extending 1-3 mm from the orifice. The category includes some breakdown in epithelial integrity. | Very Rough (VR) – a raised ring with rough fronds of old keratin extending >4 mm from the orifice. The rim of the ring is rough and cracked, giving the teat end a ‘flowered’ appearance. |
| Goal scores in a herd would be less than 5% teats scoring very rough and less than 15% teats scoring rough. These categories increase the risk for the development of a new intra-mammary infection. | |||
| Teat End Congestion | |||
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| After milking unit removal, teats should be soft, supple and pink. Congestion of the end of the teat presents as a swelling and firmness of the apex of the teat caused by over-milking, high claw vacuum and inadequate massage. Sometimes, certain liners will leave wedge shaped teats or triangular shaped teats caused by edema and the collapse of the liner. | |||
| Goal is to score less than 15% teats with teat end or teat barrel congestion | |||
| Teat Barrel Congestion | |||
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| Congestion of the barrel of the teat presents as a swelling and smoothness of the skin of the entire teat. The skin maybe reddened or in extreme cases it can be cyanotic, with a bluish coloration. This type of congestion is associated with high claw vacuum, poor massage, and liners that develop high mouthpiece chamber pressures. | |||
| Goal is to score less than 15% teats with teat end or teat barrel congestion | |||
| Mouthpiece Mark | |||
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| A mouthpiece ring is a reddened ring or impression left at or near the base of the teat, caused by the development of high mouthpiece chamber vacuum pressure, as a result of over-milking and/or liner type. | |||
| Goal is to score less than 5% teats with a mouthpiece mark. | |||
| Warts (Fibropapillomas) | |||
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| Can present in many different guises, from rice grain-type, frond-type to squamous fleshy-warts. Caused by bovine papilloma virus spread by flies. | |||
| Goal is to score less than 5% teats with a wart | |||
| Bovine Herpes Mammalitis (BHM) | |||
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| Lesions are erosive resulting in severe ulceration of the teat skin in some cases. Caused by BHV 2 and 4, probably entering the herd via a carrier animal. Spread can be rapid in a naïve herd – principally amongst the younger animals in the herd and especially during the winter – where existing poor teat condition may predispose to the condition. |
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| Goal is to score less than 2% teats with a BHM. | |||
The purpose of the Clear button is to provide the user with methods to quickly delete many records from the stored data. A pop up window will provide three deletion options:
- Delete records from a dairy (date range)
- Delete all the records from a dairy
- Delete all records.
The user is prompted to confirm any deletion choice.
Touching the Data button will present the chosen data in a full screen data table. This will allow more thorough examination of collected data. Data is selected by the selector switch below the data table on the home screen. Choices include:
- Current herd – Today’s records
- Current herd – All records
- All herds – All records
The current herd is defined by what is entered in the Herd Name text box.
The Summary button will present a summary of the chosen data for easy review. The first table presented, summarizes the Hyperkeratosis scores by quarter. Specifically the percent of normal (1), smooth (2), rough (3), very rough (4) and blind (5) teat ends for each quarter. The second table summarizes the other teat characteristics scored. Teat end congestion, teat barrel congestion, mouthpiece mark, chapped teats, warts and bovine herpes mammalitis are all summarized for each quarter.
Comments or concerns regarding this app may be emailed to: tbbennet@wisc.edu