YC.com: Body Condition

By Jill J. Dunkel

In order to make money in the cow/calf business, a cow should consistently produce a calf every 12 months. Cows that don’t calve, or those who take longer than 12 months to produce and wean a calf reduces a rancher’s profit margin.

Most reproductive failures in the beef cow can be attributed to improper nutrition and thin body condition. “Body condition is directly proportional to calving and reproductive performance,” says KC Olson, Ph. D, University of Missouri. “Cows and heifers calving in thin body condition often experience calving difficulty, decreased milk production and decreased pregnancy rates.” Proper body condition is essential to maintain a steady 12 month reproduction cycle.

“After calving, cows in moderate body condition return to estrus sooner and have shorter rebreeding intervals, compared to thin animals,” Olson explains. Fat cows appear to have no advantages in terms of reproductive performance, and it is more economical to maintain cows and heifers in moderate body condition as opposed to fat body condition.

The scoring system used to determine body condition is evaluated on a scale of 1 to 9. A cow with a score of 1 is is extremely emaciated, and a cow with a score of 9 is extremely obese. Most cows are in optimum condition with a score of 5, characterized when their ribs are covered with fat so that they are not visible, areas on each side of the tail head are fairly well filled but not mounded with fat, and the transverse pinsous process can only be felt with firm hand pressure. Detailed descriptions and pictures of body condition scores, can be found in another article.

“Mature cows are typically in their thriftiest body condition at a score of 5, but it is desirable to maintain heifers in slightly higher body condition, like a 6 or 7, until their third breeding season,” says Olson.

Maintaining an ideal body condition score throughout the year is impractical, Olson says. Body condition fluctuates, depending on the physiological demands of the cow, the weather, nutrition, etc. “I encourage producers to look at body condition as ebb and flow. A cow doesn’t have to be in moderate body condition all year long. But it is important that the cow be at peak body condition at two points in the production cycle – at calving and when breeding starts.”

From a reproductive standpoint, it is easiest to replace lost body condition during gestation, rather than during lactation. However a cow with poor body condition at calving will likely lose body condition going into the breeding season, says Olson, which could reduce the odds she’ll rebreed on the first cycle.

“It takes a lot of close management to add significant weight during lactation,” Olson explains. “But it can be done. Ideally cows should be sorted shortly after weaning and fed to achieve optimum body condition by calving time.”

By utilizing body condition scores, many nutritional and reproductive decisions can be made with more precision and accuracy, leading to a more profitable cow/calf program.