Invited review: Body condition score and its association with dairy cow productivity, health, and welfare

Schematic representation of lipid metabolism in the transition dairy cow. Positive signs (+) indicate stimulation and negative signs (–) indicate inhibition. Dashed lines are processes that occur at low rates or only during certain physiological states. CPT-I=carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, EPI=epinephrine, GH=growth hormone, TG=triglycerides, TAG=triacylglycerol, and VLDL=very low density lipoproteins. Adapted from Drackley (1999).

Graphical representation of a simple model to predict BCS patterns (Friggens et al., 2004b) based on the assumption of linear changes in rate of change of body lipid (dL/dt) with respect to time from calving, as shown in panel A. The resulting patterns of BCS are presented in panel B for 2 possible values of BCS at calving (CScalv). CScalv and the time of conception are model inputs; the rate of change of body lipid at calving (dLcalv) and the time point at which 0 rate of change in body lipid (T′) is attained and the BCS at this time point (CS′) are constants.

Association between calving BCS (5-point scale) and 60-d (□) and 270-d (Δ) milk yield in New Zealand (Roche et al., 2007b), 60-d (×) and 305-d (▴) milk yield in Ireland (Berry et al., 2007a), 90-d (♦) milk yield in the United States (Waltner et al., 1993), and 180-d (●) milk yield in Israel (Markusfeld et al., 1997). The 10-point scale (Roche et al., 2007b) was converted to the 5-point scale using the conversion equations of Roche et al. (2004).

Association between BCS (5-point scale) at planned start of mating and the proportion of cows detected in estrus before planned start of mating. Source: Roche et al. (2007c).

A stylized relationship between animal welfare and body condition score.

The range in acceptable profiles that allow cows to produce near maximum milk production for their genetics and production system, while ensuring reproduction, health, and animal welfare are not compromised. Body condition score is presented for the 5-, 8-, and 10-point scales. Adapted from Chagas et al. (2007).