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

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 sc oring chart was developed with scores ranging from 1 (lean) to 5 (fat) with half-unit increments. Scores were given after palpating the tuber coxae, s acrum, 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 consecu tive years in March before mating, in September before calving, and in Marc h of the next year at weaning. There were wide variations of individual hin d body condition and mean hind body condition between farms. Overall, yearl ing hinds lost body condition during winter and subsequently during lactati on up to weaning. Repeatability and reproducibility were above 0.8. There w as variability between assessors confirming the need for training when more than one assessor is involved. It is proposed that the condition scoring c hart presented here should be adopted industry-wide as a tool for the manag ement of breeding hinds to achieve optimum reproductive performance, since BCS was significantly associated with conception rate, conception date, dys tocia, weight of weaned offspring, and ability of the hind to rear a calf t o weaning. A management plan for the use of this body condition scoring sys tem is proposed.