Body Condition Score for Beef Cattle
Body Status Scoring Your Beef Cow Herd
Resource: Karla Wilke, Travis Mulliniks and Kacie McCarthy, Academy of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Torso condition scores (BCS) describe the relative fatness or body condition of a cow herd through the use of a ix-bespeak scale. A body condition score five (BCS five) cow is in average flesh and represents a logical target for nigh moo-cow herds. A BCS ane cow is extremely thin while a BCS 9 cow is extremely fat and obese.
Impact on subsequent rebreeding performance
Trunk condition score (BCS) of beef cows at the time of calving has the greatest impact on subsequent rebreeding performance (Table 1). The postpartum interval is the length of time from calving to first estrus (heat) after calving.
For a cow to maintain a 365 day calving interval, she must rebreed past 82 days after calving (283 day gestation + 82 day postpartum interval = 365 days). On the boilerplate, cows that calve in a BCS three or four have difficulty exhibiting their first oestrus by 80 days after calving. Whereas cows that calve in BCS v or vi tend to exhibit heat by 55 days later on calving and; therefore, take a meliorate opportunity to maintain a 365 twenty-four hour period calving interval. Although cows that calve in a BCS of 7 have a brusque postpartum interval, it is non economical to feed cows to a status score of vii.
Thin cows at calving (BCS 4 or thinner) produce less colostrum, requite nascency to less vigorous calves that are slower to stand and these calves have lower immunoglobulin levels (Table 2, below), thus impairing their ability to overcome early calf-hood affliction challenges. This illustrates the importance of targeting mature cows to calve in a BCS of at to the lowest degree 5. Because 1st-calf-heifers have only reached nearly 85% of their mature weight after calving and crave boosted nutrients to back up growth, they need to be fed so they are a BCS of 6 at calving.
Tabular array 2. IgG in Beef Calves 24 hours afterward nascence whose dams are in different trunk condition. Odde, M.Yard. 1997.
Reproductive efficiency, precalving nutrition, and improving calf survival. Proc. Bovine Connectedness, pg. 860-092.
The Look and Experience of Torso Status Scoring
Trunk condition scoring can be washed using but visual indicators or a combination of visual and palpation of key bone structures for fat encompass. Palpation can be done during routine processing of cows through a chute. The key areas for evaluation are the backbone, ribs, hips, pinbones, tailhead, and brisket. Palpating cows for fatness forth the backbone, ribs, and tailhead volition assist refine your skill to visually access body condition.
If body status scoring is new to you, just focus on separating cows into thin, moderate, and fat groups without worrying well-nigh the numerical score. With experience, you will connect the ''look and feel'' of your cows to a trunk status score that yous tin can consistently determine.
Body status scores should be recorded so that links to productivity and herd management (peculiarly nutritional management) can be examined. Several years of such information could reveal, for example, needed management changes for a given historic period group (i.e., thin three-year-olds) of cows or might identify a sire grouping of females that simply didn't fit your resources.
When visually scoring torso condition, you must "look through the hair coat". Sometimes this is difficult due to a long winter hair glaze. Information technology is good training to re-evaluate your body condition scores when cattle are moisture. You may exist surprised at the impact pilus coats tin can accept on visual scores. Long, thick wintertime pilus coats are apparently highly desirable (at least in the Northern plains), thus actual palpation for fatness of cows may be the best choice to produce consistent body status scoring. Drawings of cows in BCS 1 to 9 tin can give an indication of how these cows would look if they were without pilus.
Other factors in addition to hair coat that can affect visual body condition scores are historic period of cow, rumen fill, and phase of pregnancy. The goal of body condition scoring is to evaluate fatness independent of these factors. At starting time, one or more than of the to a higher place factors may mislead you, but careful study of your herd through the production year will sharpen your focus so that body status can be scored independent of the in a higher place factors.
The aforementioned techniques are used to condition score cattle that accept Bos Indicus genetics. Depending on the percentage of Bos Indicus genetics, the skin appears to be wrinkled or folded. Determine degree of status at the same locations and assign a score based on the 1 to 9 scale.
When to Status Score Cows
The greatest single cistron influencing rebreeding functioning of beef cows is trunk condition at calving, particularly for spring-calving females. Nonetheless, if producers await until calving to manage torso condition of their cows, they volition find information technology very difficult and expensive to increase the body status of a lactating cow.
Although evaluation of body condition tin be looked at as an ongoing process, in that location are several key times when body condition scoring should be considered:
Tardily Summer Early on Fall
This is an important time to condition score cows in drought years or in systems where females are managed nearly entirely on vegetative or dormant grazed forage. If cows are thin, early weaning should be considered. Non-lactating cows may pick-up status by grazing forage solitary or by feeding a pocket-size amount of supplement forth with the grazed forage. If young cows are thin and grass in the pasture is decreasing in nutrient quality, strategically wean calves.
Weaning Time
Pay particular attention to young cows weaning their first calves, as they are well-nigh probable to be thin at this fourth dimension. For young cows, y'all may need to consider early weaning calves and giving cows admission to higher quality provender.
45 Days after Weaning
This will give you a good idea how fast cows are "bouncing dorsum" after weaning. Thin cows should be gaining dorsum condition if cow blazon is matched with the feed resources.
xc Days earlier Calving
This is the terminal opportunity to get condition back on cows economically. This would be the fourth dimension to carve up thin cows from cows in practiced condition.
Calving Fourth dimension
If cows are thin, producers may desire to alter the pre-calving feeding program. Because of the nutritional demands of lactation, it is difficult to get cows to condition economically after calving.
Beginning of Breeding Flavor
Thin cows at this time may point a poor match of calving season to feed sources. Perchance calving occurs too early on in the leap. The period from weaning to ninety days pre-calving is the best time to go serious most body condition scoring and planning the diet/management program considering the manager's strategy can have great bear on. The flow from calving to re-breeding may help explain the productivity (or lack thereof!) but it is likely too tardily to take much bear on on herd productivity and profitability at this point. If cows are sparse management options include early weaning when the youngest calf is 45 days old or 48 hour calf separation. Both of these management techniques volition help initiate estrous cycles in beef cows.
Adjacent: Nine Indicate Body Condition Scoring | Dorsum to Learning Modules page
Source: https://beef.unl.edu/learning/condition1a.shtml