The National DHI program has also been useful in tracking conformational qualities in dairy cattle to
enhance longevity, and is now in use to monitor structural traits in dairy goats. ADGA’s linear
appraisal program is essential for providing the data to the national database. Highly trained judges
assess certain hereditable traits on a linear scale (1‐50) which ranks these “linear” traits on the normal
biological variation of each trait within the species. The intermediate/average is set at 25 for each
trait. There are 13 primary linear traits and one secondary linear trait which can be categorized as
“form” or “structural”.
Table 9: ADGA Linear Appraisal Program – Linear Traits
Linear Traits (1‐50)
Form
Structure
Trait
Stature
Strength
Dairyness
Rump angle
Rump width
Rear legs, side view
Fore udder attachments
Rear udder height
Rear udder arch
Medial Suspensory Ligament
Udder depth
Teat placement
Teat diameter
Rear Udder – Side View
Trait Type
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Secondary
In addition to the linear traits above, appraisers evaluate other structural and functional traits and
score them as the percentage of “ideal”, and give a letter score based on the category the score falls
into (E, V, +, A, F, or P). Table 10 lists the traits evaluated.
Table 10: Structural and Functional Traits
Structural & Functional Traits (% of Ideal)
Head
Shoulder assembly
Front legs
Rear legs
Feet
Back
Rump
Udder texture
42 DWARF and MINI
Score (% of Ideal)
Excellent (E)
Very Good (V)
Good Plus (+)
Acceptable (A)
Fair (F)
Poor (P)
90 and above
85 ‐ 89
80 ‐ 84
70 ‐ 79
60 ‐ 69
59 and below