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Tropical animal health and production2025; 57(2); 106; doi: 10.1007/s11250-025-04328-4

Standardized body condition scoring system for tropical farm animals (large ruminants, small ruminants, and equines).

Abstract: In tropical regions, subject to significant fluctuations in feedstuffs, the body condition score (BCS) is a relevant indicator for monitoring body reserves status of farm animals. However, the most used BCS grids comes from temperate conditions and still not adapted for tropical species, which limits adoption and usefulness. The current work presents for the first time an original, low-cost, standardized BCS assessment system, suited to a large spectrum of tropical farm animals (zebu and/or crossbred cattle, buffaloes, camel, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys). Based on a rigorous set of uniform criteria for practical, easy-to-use on field conditions, the animal model used to calibrate and validate each grid is the adult female (except the male for horses and donkeys). A six-point BCS grid system is proposed (i.e., from very emaciated -0- to overweighed -5- body conditions), based on visual interpretation of the back and right-lateral sides of each animal. The overall BCS assessment criteria is built on three major anatomical regions (hindquarters; thorax and abdomen; shoulder and neck), and ten related anatomical landmarks, which provide a unique consensual global interpretation of the back and right views. On-field tests of the proposed BCS grids for each animal species revealed acceptable reproducibility with regard to the most conventional, established gold-standards BCS methods (r = 0.67-0.99). The proposed harmonized BCS is relatively simple and must facilitate the adoption of regular, accurate BCS assessment by adequately trained operators linked to tropical animal production environments.
© 2025. The Author(s).
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Publication Date: 2025-03-07 PubMed ID: 40053256PubMed Central: PMC11889029DOI: 10.1007/s11250-025-04328-4Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article introduces a new low-cost, standardized body condition scoring (BCS) system designed for a wide range of tropical farm animals like cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, horses, and donkey.

Background and Purpose of the Study

  • The researchers recognized the need for a relevant system to monitor the body reserves of farm animals in tropical regions. In these areas, there can be substantial variations in feedstuffs available for animals, therefore, their body condition becomes a crucial indicator of their health and wellbeing.
  • The existing BCS systems are mainly based on temperate conditions and are not well adapted to deal with species living in tropical regions. This study aims to create a standardized scoring system tailored specifically to the needs and conditions of tropical farm animals.

Methodology

  • The researchers created a rigorous, uniform set of criteria for assessing the body condition of a wide range of animal species. This new scoring system was meant to be practical and easy-to-use in real, on-field conditions.
  • The model used to calibrate and validate each grid was the adult female of the species, except in the case of horses and donkeys where the male was used.
  • The proposed BCS grid ranges from zero, indicating a very emaciated condition, to five, indicating overweight status.
  • The BCS assessments were based on visual evaluations of the back and right-lateral sides of each animal.
  • The assessment criteria took into account three major anatomical regions, namely: the hindquarters; thorax and abdomen; shoulder and neck. It also involved ten related anatomical landmarks, allowing for a comprehensive global interpretation of the animal’s condition.

Results and Conclusion

  • The proposed BCS grids for each animal species demonstrated acceptable reproducibility when compared with the most conventional, established gold-standard BCS methods. This was evidenced by correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.67-0.99.
  • The researchers concluded that the proposed harmonized BCS system was relatively simple and would facilitate the adoption of frequent, accurate BCS assessments by properly trained operators in tropical animal production environments.

Cite This Article

APA
Vall E, Blanchard M, Sib O, Cormary B, González-García E. (2025). Standardized body condition scoring system for tropical farm animals (large ruminants, small ruminants, and equines). Trop Anim Health Prod, 57(2), 106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-025-04328-4

Publication

Tropical animal health and production
ISSN: 1573-7438
NlmUniqueID: 1277355
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 57
Issue: 2
Pages: 106
PII: 106

Researcher Affiliations

Vall, Eric
  • CIRAD, UMR SELMET, 34398, Montpellier, France. eric.vall@cirad.fr.
  • SELMET, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France. eric.vall@cirad.fr.
Blanchard, Mélanie
  • CIRAD, UMR SELMET, 34398, Montpellier, France.
  • SELMET, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France.
Sib, Ollo
  • SELMET, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France.
  • CIRAD, UMR SELMET, Dakar, Senegal.
Cormary, Boris
  • SELMET, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France.
  • CIRAD, UMR SELMET, Camagüëy, Cuba.
González-García, Eliel
  • INRAE, UMR SELMET, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Male
  • Tropical Climate
  • Body Composition
  • Ruminants
  • Goats
  • Horses / physiology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Equidae / physiology
  • Sheep
  • Camelus / physiology
  • Animals, Domestic
  • Cattle / physiology

Conflict of Interest Statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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