S. Afr. J. Anim. Sci.12, 79-BI (1982)
RESEARCHNOTE
CONDITIONSCORINGAS A GUIDETO THE NUTRITIONALSTATUSOF THE BEEFCOW
AND ITS IMPLICATIONSIN REPRODUCTIVE
PERFORMANCE
Receiptof MS I9-08-1981
A. van Niekerk
CedaraCollegeof Agriailture & ResearchInstiruft, Private Bag X9059, Pietermarinburg
(Key words:
/Sleutelwoorde:
Condition scoing, Reproduction,Beel'cow)
Kondisie bepaling,Reproduksie,Weiskoei)
To remain in the breedingherd, a cow shouldproduce
and successfullyraise a calf each year and reconceive
within 90 days of parturition. To ensurethat the cow
has the best possiblechanceof fulfilling theserequirements the cow must be in optimum condition at the
onsetof winter, at parturition and at mating.
equation(Yadava,1970),measurement
of subcutaneous
fat thickness ultrasonically usrnga scanogram(Stouffer
et al., 196l; Hendrick et al., 1962; Daviset al., 1964)
and other systems which all require either a certain
amount of skill, specializedequipment or are time consuming. A condition scoring system for assessingthe
body condition of the cow was proposedby Lowman,
Scott & Somerville(1973). This system was adopted
and modified by Van Niekerk & Louw ( 1980), using a
9 point scalewith halfpoint increments,where, 1,0 representsan emaciatedanimal and 5,0 an extremely fat
animal. The system is easily learned and Croxton &
Stollard (1976) found that it is highly repeatableboth
within and between operators where intraclasscorrelationsof between0.8 and 0.9 were obtained.
Many researchershave suggestedthat the breedingcow
should be on a risirrg plane of nutrition and gaining
mass during the lnating seasonto ensure a large claf
crop (McClure, 1965; Wiltbank et al., 1964;Preston&
Willis, 1974). However, a study by Richardson,Oliver
& Clarke (1976) demonstratedthat the ability of an
animal to conceivewas a function of body massper se
and not rate of gain during the mating season.Economic
factors dictate that the minimum body mass and consequent body condition compatible with normal fertility must be establishedto optimizenutrition (Lamond,
I e 7 0) .
The data presented in this paper were obtained from
research conducted at the Thabamhlope Research
Station situated at an altitude of I 500 m above sea
level and representative of Higruand Sourveld. The
breeding seasonextends from the l5th of November
to 15th of January each year. Simmenthalerbulls are
used.
Winter nutrition often exerts the greatestinfluenceon
production in the beef cow. The high cost of supplementary feeding may result in cows being underfed
during the middle and late stagesof pregnancy.The
matter is often confused by the fact that a gestating
cow may be gaining mass and yet losing condition.
This is due to the growth of the foetus and a considerable enlargementof the uterus and associatedmembranes.In a cow weighing 450 kg, the uterus and contents may weigh 8-9 kg at 20 weeksgestation,25kg
at 30 weeks and very nearly 70 kg at 40 weeks
(Moustgaard, 1959). This increasein foetal development is often confounded with an increasein mass
due to improvednutrition.
The results in Table I indicate the possibility of an
inverse relationship between mass gain and condition
score change on summer veld. This factor has a significant influence on the feeding r6gime employed during the subsequentwinter. The results were obtained
from an experiment in which I2O lactating Sussex
cows and 60 replacement Simmenthaler heifers were
subjected to different stocking rates on Highland Sourvel d.
Despite the fact that cows in 4 of the 6 treat,
ments (stocking rates) gained mass, they all lost
condition (Table l) . When the cows lost mass, condition fell dramatically (Tr. 5 & 6; Table l). The
performanceof the calves is consistent with that
of their dams. The trend is continued in the replacement heifers, where all the heifers gained mass, but
lost condition in proportion to their mass change
(Tabl e1).
The term "condition" is a vague one and reference
made to a "thin cow" or a cow in "good condition"
is open to interpretation.Therefore,the need exists
for a means whereby the physical condition of an
animal can be assessedand describedwith relative
ease and be widely understood.A number:of means
of assessing
body condition have been proposedand
used successfully.Condition scoring by prediction
79
Table I
Massand condition score changesof lactoting cows, their calvesand replacement
heifers on summer
veld
Stockingrate(A.U./ha)
0 ,8 3
1,00
1,00
1,25
1,67
1,67
Lick supplementation
Mineral
Tr. I
Mineral
T r .2
Energy
Tr. 3
Mineral
T r .4
Mineral
Tr. 5
Energy
Tr . 6
Lactating cows:
nd0
n=20
n40
n=20
nd0
n=20
15,3
0,9
25,4
1,0
Mean masschange (kg)
Mean CS change
+ 21,9
0,4
+ I7,9
0,7
+ 42,2
0,3
+ 17,2
0,6
116,2
125,9
120,9
q?5
Calves:
Mean mass
(kg)
l2l,l
93,7
Replacementheifers:
n=l0
n=l 0
n= l 0
n=l0
n=I0
n=l 0
Mean mass
MeanCS change
71,7
0 ,3
95,7
0,2
93,g
0,3
83,4
0,5
41,0
0,6
41,4
0,8
(ke)
Table 2
Intake ond perfownoncedata of cowsduing winter
Condition score
1,0-1,5
2,0
)s
3,0
n=16
n=26
nd8
nj22
Tr. I
Tr.2
Tr. 3
Tr.4
No. of daysto reachnext ] score
19,8
24,3
30,3
No. of c owst o re a c h3 ,0
(% )
12,5
15,3
42,9
DM intakelcowlday
(ke)
Feedcost for 120 days(4clkg DM)
Mean calf birth mass
Value of calf (80,48clkg)
(kg)
9,664
6,53b
R41,57
R 3 l, 3 4
35,1la
30,17b
R28,26
R24,29
Rowshavingdifferent superscripts
differ significantly,p(0,01.
80
6,ggb
R33,02
30,3gb
R24,46
6,40b
R30,72
30,g3b
R24,gl
To determine the time and amount of feed required
during winter to achievea condition scoreof 3,0 by
parturition or by the end of winter, both gestating
and dry cows were allocated to different treatments,
on the basisof their condition, and fed ad lib. rations
of maize silage and E. curvula hay. The very thin cows
(C S 1, 0 - 1, 5) c o n s u m e ds i g n i fi c a n tl (P
y < 0 ,0 1 ) more
dry matter and producedcalvessignificantly(P(0,01)
heavierat birth than the cows in the other 3 treatments
(Table2) . T he f ac t th a t o n l y 1 2 ,5 /oo f th e c o w si n Tr. 1
achievedthe desiredcondition scoreof 3,0 is probably
due to insufficientenergy.However,by supplementing
the ration with energy,the desiredcondition scoreof
3,0 would be achievedat a considerablygreatercost
than is indicatedin Table2.
The deciding factor in determining the winter feeding
regime is that the cows must be in optimum condition
at parturition and consequentlyat mating if the cow
is to reconceive. An examination of Thabamhlope
breedingdata has shown that only 8%of the cows that
went to the bull at a condition scoreof 1,5 produced
a cal f, comparedw i th 43/oat a C S of 2,0,64%a t a CS
of 2,5 and 78%at a CS of 3,0. Theseresultsare dealt
paper.
with in moredetailin a subsequent
Condition scoring has shown to be a useful management tool in improving production. The quantifying
of target condition scores at parturition and mating
have simplified winter feeding strategiesand improved
reproductiveperformance.Cunent researchat Thabamhlope is being directed at determining precise winter
feeding requirementsfor cows in different conditions,
the effect of cow condition at mating on calving interval and the effect of undernutrition on reproductive
performance.
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