Early April is the time to start drying off lighter cows in order to allow them to gain body condition prior to calving. Gaining this body condition will reduce the risk of calving problems and metabolic issues, saving you precious time and energy during the busy calving period. Cows that are a body condition 3.5 or less should be dried off in the next couple of weeks. Cows that are BCS 4.0 need to have a strategy put in place to reach BCS 4.5 by the start of June. This may include extra feed and/or OAD milking. Light cows may also particularly benefit from a dry off drench to reduce the impact of parasites over the coming months.

Determining cows that are BCS 3.5 or less:

Stand at the same level of the cow, don’t try and do it from the pit. You need to be able to get your hands on them.
BCS is determined by looking at 8 key areas of the cow: the backbone, hips, rump, tail head, pins, thigh, short and long ribs (see pictures). If you haven’t body condition scored before, keep it simple and focus on the easiest areas to assess, like the backbone, hips, pins and tail head.
Backbone - are there notches? BCS <3.5.
Hips - place a cupped hand over the hip bone, if it doesn’t fill your cupped hand and there are dips between the hip and backbone when viewed from behind then BCS is <3.5.
Pin bones - are they tap shaped? BCS <3.5.
Tail head - between the tail and the pins is there any fat? Low fat will form a deep V shape.

DairyNZ has some great resources on their website, including video’s and a quiz to help you get your eye in, if you’re feeling particularly keen. Where physical distancing an be arranged our vets can continue to offer this important service.