Dw. Sanson et al., RELATIONSHIP OF BODY-COMPOSITION OF MATURE EWES WITH CONDITION SCORE AND BODY-WEIGHT, Journal of animal science, 71(5), 1993, pp. 1112-1116
Fourteen mature, ovariectomized, western-range ewes with an initial me
an BW of 72 +/- 4.5 kg and mean condition score (CS) of 7.5 +/- .3 wer
e used to evaluate the relationship between CS and body composition. D
iets of chopped straw and alfalfa hay were formulated to provide eithe
r maintenance energy or less than maintenance energy (100 or 60% of ME
) to induce changes in BW and CS. After 180 d, ewes were weighed, scor
ed for body condition, and slaughtered. All carcass components, viscer
a, and organs were analyzed for lipid, DM, and ash, and protein was de
termined by difference. Body weight and CS values were related by regr
ession analysis to percentage of composition and weights of carcass co
mponents, carcass, and empty body. Body weight and CS were highly corr
elated (r = .89) and analysis indicated that each increase in CS resul
ted in an increase of 5.1 kg of BW. Condition score accounted for more
variation of percentage of lipid in the empty body (R2 = .95) and car
cass (R2 = .90) than did BW (R2 = .84 and .80, respectively). In contr
ast, BW accounted for more of the variation in carcass weight (R2 = .9
7) and empty BW (R2 = .99). Inclusion of both BW and CS in regression
models did not increase the variation accounted for with the single be
st predictor. With mature western-range ewes in this study, CS was hig
hly related to carcass lipids and could be used to describe energy res
erves available to ewes.