Why weekly, and why hands as well as eyes
A cow's udder and feet both deteriorate quietly. Udder infections can build inside a quarter before anything shows in the milk bucket, and feet problems start as small things — a stone, a crack, a patch of sore skin — weeks before the cow is properly lame. A smallholder with a handful of cows has the advantage of knowing each animal's normal, and a weekly hands-on check is how that knowledge gets used: short enough to actually happen, frequent enough to catch change while it is still small.
The udder: look first, then feel quarter by quarter
Start by standing back and looking. The four quarters should hang reasonably evenly; one quarter standing visibly larger, tighter, or lower than the rest is a finding in itself, as is redness, a shiny tightness to the skin, or a teat that is cut, chapped, or scabbed at the end. Then feel each quarter in turn with the flat of your hand, comparing as you go: you are feeling for heat that the other quarters do not have, hardness or lumps within the tissue, and any flinch from the cow that tells you the quarter is sore. If she is in milk, draw a little from each teat onto a dark surface or strip cup and look for clots, flakes, or wateriness — a change confined to one quarter points at that quarter. In a dry cow, the same weekly feel still applies, since her next lactation depends on the udder staying sound now.
The feet: watch her walk before you look at a single claw
Begin with movement, not hooves. Walk her a few steps on firm, level ground and watch from the side and behind: an even, unhurried stride is normal, while a shortened step, a head bob, or one leg being placed down gingerly tells you which foot to examine first. Then look at each foot properly. Check that the claws are not overgrown or curling, that no stone, twig, or compacted muck is wedged between the claws, and that there are no cracks running into the heel. Part the skin between the claws with your fingers: it should be dry and intact, not raw, weeping, or foul-smelling. Finish by feeling the pastern and the band above the hoof for heat or swelling.
The thresholds for stopping the routine and calling the vet
Most weekly findings are watch-and-note items. Some are not. A quarter that is hot, swollen, and painful, a cow off her feed or running a temperature, milk that turns suddenly abnormal in a fresh-calved cow, or a lameness that is worse a day or two later rather than better — these move from the weekly notebook to a vet call the same day, because udder infections and foot infections both move faster than a weekly rhythm. Note what you found and when, so the vet starts from your observations rather than from guesswork.
Writing it down is the point
A weekly check that lives in your head produces a feeling; one that is written down produces a comparison. Keep the notes quarter by quarter and foot by foot, in the same order each week, and keep them against the individual cow rather than the herd. On each cow's profile in KinsLe, Care Teams can set the udder-and-feet check as a recurring weekly duty, so a relief milker or a family member covering your holiday runs exactly the same checks and their findings land in the same record yours do.