06/08/2026
Let's talk about something a little different.
Have you ever heard of a Milk Mirror? Aka Escutcheon.
Every cow has some form of escutcheon mirror. The escutcheon is the representation of:
•how quickly the cow will come into milk
•how much milk she will give
•how long she will give high levels of milk.
•whether or not she will continue in high milk production or begin a sharp decline after breeding
This is accurate in both beef and dairy cows. The hair in the escutcheon is traveling upward. The wider the handle part that extends from udder to v***a and a**s the quicker she will come into full milk production and the longer she will give that production. This is visible on the baby calf.
The easiest way to explain that is picture a spade shovel. A wide long handle is best. Then picture the spade head on a shovel the part you step on the bigger it is the better. And that same step part, either flat or angled upward so your foot won't fall off is best.
Butter-fat production is revealed by the amount of hair on the udder. The cows with a bald to semi bald udder are the highest butterfat producers.
I have put pictures of our cows that have this shovel shaped milk mirror for you to see. These cows always have a calf that grows bigger and chunkier.
You can also see this same mark on bulls and the bulls that have this tend to give you daughters that milk well and raise nice chunky calves.
I'll try to get some better pictures of this so you guys can see it in more cows.