Animal handling- Lecture 6-BCS

Body Condition score of sheep and goats

• not necessarily what?

A subjective assessment of the amount of fat and muscle cover on an animals body.

• Not necessarily taking weight but the CONDITION of the animal

Scale for BCS of sheep and goats

• what is too thin

• what is too fat

1-5 with 0.5 increments

• 1 is too thin

• 5 is too fat

BCS how to (sheep and goats)

• what three things can you feel for

• feel for ht espine, behind its last rib, and in front of its hip bone

• feel for the tips of the sinous and transverse processes

• feel for fullness of muscle and fat cover

BCS scale - sheep and goats

• 1- emaciated. no fat cover. both spinous and transverse process are sharp and easily felt

• 2- thin. some fat cover. both spinous and transverse process are felt with a little pressure

• 3- average. moderate fat cover. both spinous and transverse are smooth and rounded and take hard pressure to feel

• 4- fat. thick fat cover. spinous process can be felt with hard pressure and transverse process cannot be felt

• 5- obese. very thick fat cover. both spinous process and transverse process cannot be felt. fat dimple detected over spine

Factors that affect BCS (9)

• nutrition, production stage

• pre-breeding

• early gestation

• mid gestation

• late gestation

• lactating

• weaning

• age- solid mouth sheep

• sex

What is an ideal BCS (sheep goats)

• pre breeding females and males

• early to mid gestation 

• lambing with a single offspring and twins

• lactating and peak lactation stage

• weaning

• age?

• castrated animals 

may want a higher or lower bcs depending on different factors

• pre breeding- females=3-4, males=4 (lose a lot during breeding)

• early-mid gestation- 3-4

• lambing- singles=3-3.5, twins= 3.5-4

• lactating- 2.5+, peak=4wks post giving birth

• weaning- 2+

• age- much older animals have a harder time maintaining condition

• castrated animals will have more condition- easier to get fat

Low BCS - sheep goat

may indicate problems such as: (5)

• infection/disease

• injury

• parasites

• age

• nutrition- increase protein (protein block or high protein pellets (>12%CP), increase energy- carbohydrates

BCS in beef cattle.

what is the scale?

1-9

• 1- severely emaciated and physically weak with all ribs and bone structure easily visible. rare- usually inflicted with a disease/parasite

• 2- Emaciated. Muscle tissue seems severely depleted through the hindquarters and shoulder

• 3-Very thin with no fat on ribs or in brisket and the backbone is easily visible

• 4- Thin, with ribs visible and the backbone showing. The spinous processes are still very sharp and barely visible individually

• 5-Moderate. The spinous processes are smooth and difficult to identify, as are ribs

• 6-High moderate. Good smooth appearance throughout. The back appears rounded and ribs are not visible

• 7- Very good flesh. Tail head shows pockets of fat, and the back appears square due to fat. Ribs are not visible

• 8-Obese. Neck is thick and short and her back appears very square due to excessive fat. The brisket is distended and she has heavy fat pockets around the tail head.

• 9-Extremely obese. May have problems with mobility due to excessive weight and restriction of limbs. The tail head will not be visible as it will be covered in a large mass of fat.

What is the ideal BCS for cows?

5-6