A body condition score system and its use for farmed red deer hinds

Abstract

A longitudinal observational study of 15 red deer farms in New Zealand was carried out for a 2-year period. To assess the body condition of deer, a scoring chart was developed with scores ranging from 1 (lean) to 5 (fat) with half-unit increments. Scores were given after palpating the tuber coxae, sacrum, and rump area of the deer standing straight and quiet. Repeatability and reproducibility were evaluated on 39 yearling hinds and 90 adult hinds on four properties which were independently scored twice by two assessors to investigate assessor bias and consistency. A body condition score (BCS) was assigned to 1400 and 2100 hinds in consecutive years in March before mating, in September before calving, and in March of the next year at weaning. There were wide variations of individual hind body condition and mean hind body condition between farms. Overall, yearling hinds lost body condition during winter and subsequently during lactation up to weaning. Repeatability and reproducibility were above 0.8. There was variability between assessors confirming the need for training when more than one assessor is involved. It is proposed that the condition scoring chart presented here should be adopted industrywide as a tool for the management of breeding hinds to achieve optimum reproductive performance, since BCS was significantly associated with conception rate, conception date, dystocia, weight of weaned offspring, and ability of the hind to rear a calf to weaning. A management plan for the use of this body condition scoring system is proposed. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.