Body Condition Scoring in Holstein Dairy Cows

Relationships with Production, Reproduction, and Disease

Abstract

An observational study of 429 Holstein dairy cows in 13 herds in Prince Edward Island, Canada was performed to determine the relationship among body condition score (BCS) and changes in BCS with milk production, reproductive performance, and disease. All Holstein dairy cows that calved between 1 March 1991 and 1 November 1991 were enrolled in the study. Cows were body condition scored once during the dry period, near claving, and then every 14 days until termination of lactation. All body condition scoring was performed by one person using a 1-5 scale with quarter-point divisions.

Factors examined were: the effect of BCS at calving on either peak milk yield or 305-day milk yield; condition loss during the postpartum period; total amount of gain affected by condition score at calving or production level; differences in number of breedings, days to conception, days to first heat, or days to first breeding for cows grouped by body condition score at calving or cows grouped by amount of condition loss; the rate of disease diagnosis for cows with different BCS. The results of this work and the ramifications for dairy practitioners, will be discussed in this presentation.