Body Condition Scoring breeding cows at weaning will help farmers understand what fat reserves cows are carrying into winter and identify animals that may need extra feed.
- Ideally cows should be at Body Condition Score (BCS) 7 at weaning.
- Weaning is a good time to BCS cows to help with feed planning.
- BCS gives a better indication of body reserves than liveweight.
- Cows should be between BCS 5 to7 depending on the time of the year.
- Cows can be condition-scored in the paddock or when walking through a gateway.
Body Condition Scoring breeding cows at weaning will help farmers understand what fat reserves cows are carrying into winter and identify animals that may need extra feed.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s General Manager Farming Excellence, Dan Brier, says cows should ideally be at a BCS 7 at weaning to ensure they have sufficient reserves to carry them through winter and pregnancy.
He says cows at a BCS of 7 at weaning can safely lose up to 2 BCS in autumn and early to mid-winter, but if individual cows drop below a BCS 4, then they should be drafted off and preferentially fed to lift them to a minimum BCS 5 by calving.
Mr Brier says as body condition scoring is independent of cow frame size and fetus weight it gives a much better indication of body reserves than body weight and allows changes to be measured over time.
As a general rule, cows should be at a Body Condition Score (BCS) of between 5-7 depending on the time of year.
Cows should be in optimum condition at weaning at a BCS of 7, and in typical hill country farming systems, this will drop to a BCS of 5 in mid-winter and at calving.
It is important for cows to gain body condition between calving and mating aiming for a BCS 6 when the bulls go out. This gives calves a good start and increases the chances of early conception
Once farmers calibrate their eye, Body Condition Scoring can be done in a paddock or as animals are slowly moved through a gateway, as well in the yards.
When learning how to assess an animal, Mr Brier recommends farmers put their hands on the cow’s spine, short ribs, hips, pin bones and tail head while in the yards to get an indication of fat cover.
“B+LNZ has some excellent resources to help farmers learn to BCS cows and once they have learnt this skill, they can BCS at critical times of the year such as weaning, mid-winter, calving and mating.”