Cow comfort: Body condition score

by DeLaval staff

What is it?

• One purpose of this article series is to show how the simple technique of body condition scoring (BCS) can contribute significantly to good husbandry and management of dairy cows.

• This will help to ensure that the cow is in the correct condition for each stage of her annual cycle and that appropriate dietary changes can be made in order to correct any deficiencies.

Why do body condition scoring?

• Body condition indicates how much stored energy a cow has for future use. BCS can help you track energy balance and understand production and reproductive performance.

• The most common body condition scoring system ranks cows from one to five with a score of one being thin and a score of five being obese. It was developed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA. Areas to evaluate when body condition scoring include hooks, pins, tailhead, and the ligaments around these bones.

• Body condition of feeding groups should be evaluated. It will reflect the true energy content of the diet.

• Cows should be scored at calving during their first postpartum exam, when bred, when checked for pregnancy, some time during late lactation and at dry-off.

An evaluation of body condition can help you understand the past nutritional status of your cows and why your milk production and reproductive performance results are good or bad. It will also show you some of the challenges to come. Body condition is an indication of how much energy a cow has stored for future usage. Body condition scoring was developed to help farmers and nutritionists more definitively assess and track body condition. This is very important because the monthly changes in body condition tend to be more highly correlated with health, productivity, and reproduction than a cow’s actual body condition on any particular day.

How to do body condition scoring
You use sight and touch to evaluate the amount of fat covering the loin, rump and tailhead with a score from one to five. The most critical areas to be evaluated are the hook and pin bones, the ligaments going to the hook and pin bones from the spine and the tailhead. Studies show that the amount of fat at these points on the body is related to the amount of fat inside the cow. Body condition scoring is better for monitoring body energy reserves than bodyweight. Bodyweight can change due to changes in body fat, frame size, gut size and udder size.

BCS = 1.5
This cow is too thin and is hopefully rarely seen on a farm. This cow will not milk well or reproduce. This cow probably isn’t healthy. The vertebrae, short ribs, hooks, pins, and tailhead are very sharp and visible. One-half of the length of the transverse processes is visible. The ligaments are easily seen. The area around the tailhead and the dish of the rump (thurl) are very dished. There are folds of skin seen between the tailhead and pins.

BCS = 2
This cow is very thin, causing low milk production and poor reproduction. Health may be OK. The spine and short ribs can be easily seen, but the individual vertebrae are not really apparent. The short ribs appear scalloped. The upper surfaces of the short ribs can be felt. One-half to a third of the length of the transverse processes is visible. The hooks and pins stand out. No fat can be felt on the pin bones. The ligaments are sharp and easily seen. The areas around the tailhead and the thurl area are very dished. There are folds of skin between the tailhead and pins.

BCS = 2.5
It is a reasonable goal not to have more than 10 percent of the herd scoring 2.5 or less. This is the lowest acceptable condition score. A cow with a score of 2.5 has vertebrae showing but they cannot be seen as individual bones. The short ribs can be counted but are not scalloped. One-third to a quarter of the length of the transverse processes is visible. The ligaments are easily seen but not as sharp as with a BCS of 2.0. Both the hooks and pins are angular but some fat can be felt on the pin. The areas around the tailhead and thurl are dished.

BCS = 3.0
This cow could be a healthy, high-producing cow. But, if a cow calves in at a score of 3.0 or less, she may not have enough body fat to use for high peak milk production and to carry her through until dry matter intake increases. At this score, the dish of the rump (thurl) is at the transition between looking like a “U” and looking like a “V”. Any cow under a BCS of 3.0 has a thurl area looking like a “V”. The backbone can be seen but the individual vertebrae are rounded. Covering the short ribs is half to one inch of flesh. Less than quarter the length of the transverse processes is visible. There is fat covering the ligaments but they are still obvious. The hooks and pins have some fat that can be felt. The area around the tailhead is dished but no folds of skin are seen.

BCS = 3.5
Dry cows and calving cows should have a body condition score of 3.5. On this cow, fat can be felt on the backbone, short ribs, and ligaments. The hooks and pins are rounded. No individual transverse processes can be seen. The thurl is somewhat dished. The coccygeal (tailhead) ligament is barely visible but the sacral ligament can still be seen. The area around the tailhead is rounded and filled in but not fat.

BCS = 4.0
Cows calving in at this condition will eat less, lose more weight and have more metabolic problems. This cow’s back is flat because fat has filled it in. The short ribs can not be seen individually but they can just barely be felt. The hooks and pins are obviously fat. The “U” between the hooks and pins is very flat with no depression. The ligaments cannot be seen. The area around the tailhead is filled in and folds of fat are seen.

BCS = 5.0
This cow is extremely fat and will have metabolic and breeding problems. The backbone and short ribs cannot be seen and are hard to feel. The hooks and pins are buried in fat and hard to feel. The thurl is totally filled in. The tailhead is buried in fat. EL