Body Condition Scoring Observational Skills

78 Beef Breeder MANUAL 4. Cattle Health and Welfare

4.1. Observational Skills

To assist in the detection of any abnormalities that will afect the animal’s performance, producers must develop good observational skills. Experienced producers know the diference between normal and abnormal behaviour, and appearance. The behaviour or appearance of an animal is a good indication of how the animal feels, if it is well or sick, or if it needs more, or better quality feed.

4.1.1. Body Condition Scoring

The body fat reserves of beef cattle can be used as a visual indicator of their condition and are strongly correlated to performance throughout the breeding cycle Fig. 4.1. Learning to assess the body condition of cattle is a basic management skill that producers can utilise to manage the productivity and proitability of the herd. The objective of condition scoring is to obtain a reliable estimate of the body fat reserves of live animals. Body Condition Score BCS provides an estimate of fat reserves that is independent of size and is a more reliable descriptor than liveweight alone. With practice, “hands on” scoring of the herd takes only 10 to 15 seconds per animal. Condition scoring allows producers to monitor the results of feeding and management programs, and to make appropriate adjustments to their management in response. This is particularly important during winter when feed available must be suicient for cattle to continue meeting production targets. Condition scoring can be used on all classes of animals, including breeding, backgrounding and inishing. In breeding animals, assessment of body condition at critical stages of the production cycle identiies cows in need of nutritional management to reach target condition scores. For backgrounding and inishing animals, knowing their condition allows selection Figure 4.1. Relationship between body condition score at mating and pregnancy rate PTIC. Cows in better body condition BCS 3, 4 and 5 at mating have higher pregnancy rates. Source: Central Queensland Beef. 79 Cold Winter Climates of those with the desired level of fat cover for target markets. Both the beef and dairy cattle industries of a number of countries have adopted body condition scoring systems to assist producers to monitor their cattle. It should be noted that the number scales vary between countries and beef or dairy cattle; for example Australia uses a 0 to 5 scale for beef cattle, and a 1 to 8 scale for dairy cattle, the USA beef cattle scoring system is a 1 to 9 scale, and the Canadian beef industry uses a 1 to 5 scale. Condition Scoring Techniques Condition scoring is a subjective and reliable hands-on practice that involves palpating the short ribs spinous processes, and the tail head to assess fat cover Fig. 4.2. The Short Ribs The degree of prominence of the short ribs of the individual spinous processes is found by placing the ingers lat over the short ribs and pressing the thumb into the end of the short ribs Fig. 4.3. A condition score is given according to the ease with which the individual short ribs can be felt with the thumb. The Tail Head The degree of fat cover around the tail head is assessed by using the ingers and thumb and should be done at the same time as assessing the short ribs. The appropriate score is given depending on the degree to which palpable fat can be felt. Figure 4.2. Condition scoring sites on beef cattle. Source: Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. Figure 4.3. The degree of fat cover around the tail head and short ribs is assessed using the ingers and thumb. Source: Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. Short Ribs Tail head Hide Fat Cover Eye Muscle Spine Short Ribs Thumb Pressure 80 Beef Breeder MANUAL Body Condition Score Classiication A body condition score of nil indicates a severely emaciated animal while a change to BCS of ive is grossly obese. A diference of one BCS may relect a liveweight diference of as much as 60kg. Descriptions of the BCS scale are as follows: Welfare Implications of the Body Condition Score Monitoring BCS throughout the year enables producers to gain an accurate picture of the nutrition and health of the herd as seasonal conditions, feed quality and availability, and animal physiology change. Importantly, body condition and body condition change should be used as a trigger for implementing diferent managements for either individual animals or mobs when required, based on current and past condition measurements. In particular, cattle that fall within the low range of body condition, and those that sit at the highest condition score trigger additional concern when it comes to certain management activities Table 4.1. Where animals in the herd are identiied with scores in these ranges, the manager must initiate appropriate management responses to move the animals towards a better body condition. Alternatively, and particularly for cattle with very low body condition, if mob-based feed and health management solutions are not readily available or able to be implemented, consideration must be given to remove the animals from the herd for individual management, or if in very poor condition, humane slaughter procedures should be implemented see Section 4.2.6.

4.1.2. How to Recognise Sick Animals