Body Condition Scoring of Beef
Cattle, Sheep and Goats
Imran Mohsin
BCS in Beef Cattle
• Importance in monitoring herd nutritional status
• Varies throughout the year
• Ranges from 1(thin) to 9 (obese)
• Utilize to manage feeding practices
• Prepare animals before “need”
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• Close link between BCS and many factors
Remember: A Beef Cows job is to make a Calf
• Strong link between low BCS and…
• Reproductive performance/open cows
• Failure to cycle
• Failure to conceive
• Calving interval
• Calf vigor at birth
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Normal Variations in Body Condition
• Typical Range is 3 to 7
• Can vary between animal in a herd
• Will vary throughout the year
• In my opinion, fat is just as bad as thin
• One BCS is about 100 lbs.
• Ex. BCS 5=1200 lbs., then 6=1300 lbs.
Investigating Variations
• Fat Cows:
• Not “Working” (lactation, gestation)
• Confinement –Pasture vs. Paddock
• Over-feeding
• Thin Cows
• Under-feeding – #1 reason in my opinion (basic math)
• Parasitism
• Excess work - twin pregnancy, lactation in certain breeds
Financial Implications
• Fat Cows:
• In general, cows eat 3% of their body weight daily.
• Roughly $4-5 per day in CT.
• 10 cows @ 1400 lbs. (BCS 6) = 14,000 lbs.
• 10 cows @ 1600 lbs. (BCS 8) = 16,000 lbs.
• Difference of 2,000 lbs. OR 1.5 cows OR $7.50/day OR $225/month
• Thin Cows:
• Takes roughly 10 lb. of feed to make 1 lb. weight gain
• BCS 3 @ 900 lbs.. Needs to gain 3 scores (300-450 lbs.)
• 400 lbs. x 10 lbs. of feed = 4500 lbs. of EXTRA feed
• 1500lbs grain + 3000 lbs. roughage = $581 to “catch up”
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Where to Look
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Optimal Timing
• Goal of BCS 5-7 at time of calving
• May require increasing or decreasing feed prior to
• Expect a drop in BCS from lactation demand post-calving
• It’s hard to increase BCS after calving
• Goal of BCS 6 or higher at breeding
• About 90 days after calving
• May be difficult during winter calving
• This is when nutritional management is most important
• IDEALS WILL VARY WITH DIFFERENT HERDS AND LOCATIONS
Overall
• BCS monitoring is a management tool
• Fluctuates throughout the year
• Use to help manage feed costs
• Maintain reproductive efficiency
• Prevent disease
BCS in Sheep
BCS Scoring in Sheep
• Sheep are hard to assess visually
• Wool cover prevents “eyeballing” them most of the time
• Scale from 1 to 5 (thin to obese)
• Usually 0.5 increments
• Age, pregnancy and wool can affect interpretation of BCS
• Parasitism is a serious health concern
• BCS monitoring can help find “outliers” in a flock
• Causes weight loss
• Failure to gain (as a flock or individually)
Need To Be Hands On!
• It can be obvious to see a 1 or a 5, but you can not do a real
assessment of a flock without being hands on.
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Feel the Topline/Lumbar Vertebrae
• Palpating 3 things
1. Spinous processes
2. Epaxial Muscles
3. Fat Cover
• Each lumbar vertebrae has 3 processes
• Dorsal Spinous
• Left and right transverse
Stage of Production Optimum BCS
Maintenance 2
Breeding 3
Early Gestation 2+
Late Gestation 3
Lambing 3+
Weaning 2
REMEMBER: IDEALS WILL VARY!!!
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BCS in Goats
BCS in Goats
• Similar in concepts to sheep
• Differences
• Meat vs. Dairy
• Shorter hair coats
• Sternum
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BCS 1
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BCS 2
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BCS 3
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BCS 4
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BCS 5
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Questions?