Body Condition Scoring

Who should use a Body Condition Score?

Although BCS can be called on all ages and classes of cattle, it is most used for females in the breeding herd. For young, growing cattle, BCS can help formulate a diet plan.

Often cattle under a year of age are sorted into “green” or “fleshy” rather than being assigned a particular condition.

In terms of who should be calling BCS scores in the cow herd, it could be any producer actively managing the nutrition plan to optimize performance while keeping the feed bill in check.

This can be said for both grazing operations and operations that feed stored feeds throughout the year.

What is a Body Condition Score?

Body condition scores are simply a visual measure of fat reserves on an animal. For beef cattle, the one (emaciated) to nine (obese) scale has thorough descriptions for each score that can be reviewed through the BIF Guidelines.

For example, to be a BCS seven, a cow is considered fleshy, with a full brisket that is not distended. The spine can only be felt with firm pressure and the topline begins to appear squarer.

Ideal BCS for breeding cows is in the five to six range, with young, first-calf heifers ideally carrying more fat reserves than mature cows, due to their increased nutritional demands.

When Should Body Condition Score be Observed?

BCS for the cow herd should be observed at multiple timepoints during the year, as a regular practice to evaluate nutritional status. A herd BCS can be given by assessing a percentage of the females at a point in time.

Tracking BCS on individual animals anytime individual data is recorded can be beneficial to get a better representation of the herd and to identify management opportunities.

The two timepoint recordings for individual cow BCS are recommended at calving and sometime between weaning and the start of the third trimester, which often correlates with preg checking.

After weaning and in late fall/early winter, the female experiences some of her lowest nutritional requirements and is the most cost-effective timepoint to add condition if needed before calving.

Where do you preform a BCS?

To start, many producers prefer putting hands on the cow when calling body condition score, which limits them to assessing BCS in a chute.

However, this is not always feasible, and BCS can be assigned whenever the producer is able to get a good look at a female from a relatively close distance.

Getting a profile and rear view is helpful to assess all body parts important in BCS score descriptions. This includes evaluating the spine, ribs, brisket, tailhead, hooks, and pins.

In the colder months, be wary of the winter hair coat concealing bones structures that would be visible in a summer coat. Ensure fat cover, not a combination of fat and hair, is evaluated when calling BCS.

For each timepoint BCS are taken, it is important to be consistent with who is calling BCS, and the visual or hands on evaluation they use.

Why a BCS?

At the end of the day, why BCS? This measure has been utilized in numerous studies and is correlated to multiple performance indicators in the cowherd.

At calving, it is encouraged to collect a BCS because BCS is correlated to how long it takes the calf to stand after parturition, total colostrum volume, and colostrum quality.

More notably, multiple studies have shown a direct correlation between cow BCS at calving and postpartum winter 2024-2025 | pacdvms.com 17 interval.

As BCS increases, postpartum interval decreases, meaning cows carrying more condition will return to estrous earlier than underconditioned counterparts, and have a higher likelihood to breed earlier in the breeding season.

Correlations between BCS and subsequent breeding pregnancy rates have demonstrated the same relationship: cows with a BCS of five plus have better reproductive success.

Body Condition Score and Cow Performance

To put the value of managing BCS in perspective, table 1 was adapted from a Florida publication.

Although there are multiple assumptions, by accounting for pregnancy rate and calf performance differences expected from underconditioned cows, managing a five to six body condition score drastically impacts the yearly cow income.

This table only accounts for postpartum interval and pregnancy rate differences expected with different BCS scores and does not capture other benefits of adequate BCS.

Higher BCS scores of seven plus are not included, in part because we do not expect to see much more of a production increase, and because feeding cattle to maintain a BCS seven plus is expensive.

Additionally, excess fat reserves begin to have negative performance consequences as well.

Using Body Condition Score

With BCS data in hand, producers can then make management changes. Some changes may look like a supplementation program on pasture after cows calved with less-than-ideal condition. If taken after weaning, producers can sort cows into feeding groups based on age, pregnancy status, and condition. Under conditioned, pregnant cows can be managed together to achieve a BCS 5 or 6 by calving without overfeeding the cows evaluated as a BCS 6. For open cows, BCS can be utilized to sort females into a “market ready” group or an underconditioned group that pose a feeding opportunity and will rapidly put on weight. Ultimately, body condition scoring is a low-cost, useful piece of information that can be used as a nutritional management tool.

Beth Reynolds is the program specialist for the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa Beef Center. She grew up on a diversified crop and cattle operation in northeast Colorado before attending the University of Wyoming. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Beth got her M.S. in Animal Science at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln working with the ruminant nutrition group. As a beef specialist, Beth’s outreach program primarily focuses on cow-calf production and forage management. In addition to her role at the Iowa Beef Center, Beth helps her husband manage their cow-calf operation, and above all, enjoys raising her family in the Midwest.