Body condition useful tool to cattle breeding operations

Use of body condition scores throughout the fall and winter is an appropriate method of adjusting feeding programs as needed, said Glenn Selk, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service cattle specialist.

“Fall is an excellent time to plan the winter feeding strategy for pregnant replacement heifers,” Selk said. “The key word is pregnant.”

Research indicates any heifer that has gone through its first breeding season and not become pregnant will tend to be about a 55 percent breeder throughout its lifetime.

Selk said producers should pregnancy test replacement heifers if they have not done so already. Any heifer that is not pregnant should be culled.

“Those that have tested pregnant need to be put on a winter feed program that will allow them to maintain body condition and gain weight until they calve next spring,” Selk said. “A replacement heifer needs to weigh about 85 percent of its potential mature weight at calving time next spring.”

Since few cattle producers actually have scales or weigh heifers frequently enough to see exactly what weight they possess at any given time, Selk said cow-calf operators should be monitoring body condition to make certain heifers are on track.

The goal is a body condition score of six for first-calf heifers. Research indicates heifers in a body condition score of six will calve normally and will not have increased calving difficulty. Furthermore, such heifers tend to rebreed well and generate adequate milk supplies so the calf will have access to high-quality colostrum.

Selk said the old rancher's tale of trying to calve heifers in thin body condition is a belief that has been very costly to cattle producers over the years.

“Cow-calf operators who keep heifers thin will not decrease calving difficulties but will decrease rebreeding rates significantly,” he said. “These producers are cheating themselves out of their investment.”

The same rules of body condition are applicable for cows. However, research indicates cows have more latitude than heifers.

“Data shows if cows are calved in the high-half of the five body condition score, and then maintain this body condition until they rebreed, then cows generally show good success as breeding stock,” Selk said.

An animal with a body condition score of five will be moderate to thin. The last two or three ribs are visible, and there is little evidence of fat in the brisket, over the ribs or around the tailhead.

Cows and heifers in a body condition score of six present a good smooth appearance throughout the body. Some fat deposits are visible in the brisket and over the tailhead. The ribs are covered and the back appears rounded.

Photographs of cattle in body conditions one through nine are available by viewing the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources’ Aug. 31 Cow-Calf Corner newsletter at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/cc-corner/archbcs1to9.html on the Internet.

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