Body Condition Scoring Helps Producers Plan Ahead For Cow Needs

Body condition is one of the best determinants of a cow's reproductive potential. When producers try to add body condition to their can cowherd, it can be difficult and expensive to do so. As a result it's important producers know their body condition scores of their herd. Kansas State University Extension Livestock Specialist Sandy Johnson says by recording body conditions scores now that can save producers in the long term.

"It's often when we are closest to things that you don't see some of the changes that are occurring and the changes typically will be rather slow," Johnson said. "If we make a concerted effort to just take a few moments, score those cows when we're checking them."

Body condition is typically scored on a scale of one to nine. A score of a one means the cow exhibits very little fat deposits or muscling. A score of a nine means the cow is very fat to the point that animal mobility can be impaired by excessive fat. An ideal score is a score of five or six where the cow has good balance of muscling and fat.   By regularly recording body condition scores of your individual mamma cows that can help producers plan for needed changes in nutritional requirements for both that individual cow and the total mamma cowherd. Johnson recommends checking cows often enough so producers can track body condition changes over time.

"Intentionally writing it down and tracking it over time will help you know what's going on and might help you plan and really that's what we want to be about is planning for known changes in cow's nutritional requirements and not getting caught short and needing more feed than we really have," Johnson said.

Producers will want to measure a cow's body condition to insure she is receiving the correct nutrient intake. Johnson said there are times when a cow's nutritional requirements go up, such as 90 days prior to calving and at calving when a cow begins lactation. Johnson recommends scoring cows at breeding to evaluate pre-breeding and pre-calving nutrition programs. She also recommends checking body condition at weaning to determine if additional supplementation will be needed before her nutritional requirement increase during her third trimester of pregnancy.