KENYA STANDARD     D KS 2774: PART 1: 2017  
                      ICS …… 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
Grading live animal for meat trade - 
Specification 
 
 Part 1: Cattle  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
     PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT, NOVEMBER 2017 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© KEBS 2017         First Edition 2017   
  KENYA STANDARD    DK S 2774: PART 1: 2017  
ICS ……………… 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
Grading live animal for meat trade - 
Specification 
  
Part 1: Cattle  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
No copying of this standard without KEBS permission except as permitted by copyright law  
 
 
  
 
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT, NOVEMBER 2017 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
   
© KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved   
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION 
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical C ommittee: 
 
Ministry of Agriculture. Livesto ck and Fisheries- Directorate o f livestock production 
Ministry of Agriculture. Livestock and Fisheries - Directorate of veterinary services 
Kenya Camel Association (KCA) 
University of Nairobi (UON) 
Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) 
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock  Research Organization (KARLO)  
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) 
Kenya Livestock Marketing Council (KLMC)….Proposed 
Farmers Choice (K) Ltd Consumer Information Network 
Ministry of Health- food safety unit 
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives  National Public Health Laboratories 
Government Chemist’s Department 
Kenchic (K) Ltd. Kenya Meat Commission 
Kenya Nut limited – Morendat Farm 
Choice Meats limited 
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) 
 
 
 
    
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS 
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya standar ds shall be regularly reviewed. Suggestions 
for improvement to published standards, addressed to the Managi ng Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, 
are welcome. 
 
  
 
 
© Kenya Bureau of Standards , 2016 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws of Kenya, copyrig ht 
subsists in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 26 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau  of 
Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in w riting 
from the Managing Director. 
 
 
 
ISBN 9966-19-638-2  
   
 KENYA STANDARD       
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
Grading live animal for meat trade - 
Specification   Part 1: Cattle  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS) 
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi-00200, Tel.: (+254 020) 605490, 602350,  Fax: (+254 020) 604031 
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Fax: (+254 041) 229448   Fax: (+254 057) 21814 
  
© KEBS 2015 — All rights reserved  Foreword  
 
This Kenya Standard was prepared by the Meat and Meat Products Technical Committee under the 
guidance of the Standards Projects Committee, and it is in acco rdance with the procedures of the Kenya 
Bureau of Standards. 
 
 During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to  the following documents: 
 
Determination of living animals for slaughter: KS 01-837: part 1  
 Kenya Meat Commission Act Cap 363 of the laws of Kenya  
Il N’gwesi Guide to Body Condition Scoring, Purdue Extension, w ww.extension.purdue.edu/new  
 
ILRI discussion paper No. 22, Improvement and Diversification o f Somali Livestock Trade and 
Marketing; Towards a formalized grading system for export quali ty livestock in Somalia 
 Stuth, J. et al., (2006). “Livestock Market Information System for East Africa: The Case of LINKS/GL-
CRSP.” In J.G McPeak and P.D Litt le , eds Pastoral livestock ma rketing in Eastern Africa: Research 
and policy challenge  
ES 2789:2012-Grading live animals and carcass 
Australian Standard for the expor t of livestock (version 2.3) 2 011 
PNS/BAFPS 87:2010: Live grading for slaughter cattle 
 Animal welfare Act Cap 360  
The assistance derived from the above sources is highly acknowl edged.©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
  
Grading live animals for meat trade –Specification 
Part 1:  Cattle 
 
 
 
1. S cope 
 
This Kenya Standard specifies requirements for grading of cattl e for meat trade 
 
2  Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the ap plication of this document. For 
dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated r eferences, the latest edition of the 
referenced document (including any amendments) applies. 
 
I. KS 01-837: Parts 1 and 2 1990 Definitions for living animals for slaughter 
II. KS 317-1: Carcasses and meat cuts- bovine  specification  
III. Code of practice for animal welfare during transportation. 
 
3. Definitions 
For the purposes of this standa rd, the following definitions sh all apply: 
 
3.1 Grade  –  
the defined parameters that segregate live animals for meat tra de into homogenous groups applied by 
market participants  based on weight, age, sex, body condition and body conformation.   
 
3.2 Sex –  
refers to whether an animal is male or female.  
3.3 Body condition  – 
overall body state of an animal assessed through visual observa tion taking into account fat and muscle 
deposition as it occurs in various places on the animal’s body 
 
3.4 Body condition score -  
Is the score assigned through visual appraisal of specific body  parts. The extent to which specific skeletal 
body parts {including; hips, hooks and pins, rump, shoulders, b ack (spinous processes of the thoracic 
vertebrae), ribs} are either hidden or smoothened by flesh or f at. The animals are thus categorized as 
excellent; good; fair and poor;  
 
3.5 Body conformation 
is the symmetry, size and shape of the various body regions of a n  a n i m a l  r e l a t i v e  t o  e a c h  o t h e r  o r  t h e  
general appearance of the animal according to what is considere d a desirable appearance.  Features of an 
animal that comprise the ‘desirable appearance’ include  
©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
 
 a) Big frame or skeletal size of the animal—under this feature height and length as crucial elements to 
consider. Top quality animals are those that shall be tall with  large body frame; 
b) Good muscling— under this feature, thick and long muscling i s preferred; 
c) Good appearance of feet and legs—important features to consi der here shall include a long and 
straight (level) rump; long and broad loin; long and straight b ack; and well set and straight legs. Cattle 
exhibiting a large heart girth in relation to overall body size  (height and length of body) will attain a 
higher score. 
 
3.6 Conformation score 
This is a qualitative categorization of animal features based o n body frame, animal height and defects. They 
shall be described as excellent, good or fair.   3.7 Castrated male: 
Male animals whose testicles have been rendered dysfunctional t hrough an approved procedure.   
 
3.8 Live weight :  
the weight of an animal before slaughter determined through an appropriate and acceptable method.  
3.9 Lordosis  
- Excessive inward curvature of the spine. 
3.10 Kyphosis  
- Excessive outward curvature of the spine. 
3.11 Ossification (or osteogenesis)   
-is the process of laying down new bone material by cells calle d osteoblasts. It is synonymous with bone 
tissue formation 
4. GRADING SPECIFICATIONS  
4.1 Grading —  
Grading of cattle shall be done in accordance to age, sex, and ossification, as outlined in table 2  
weight, body condition and body conformation. 4.1.1 Age: categories will be based on records or dentition as outlined in  KS 01-837: Parts 1 1990.    
 
4.1.2 Sex : categories will be based on: mal e (castrated or un-castrated)  and female. 
 
4.1.3  Weight :  Animal live weight will be determined by any appropriate met hod including weighing scale or 
weighing band. The following weight levels shall be used during  grading of cattle; 
Males: Weight category 1, minimum live weight of 300 Kg 
Males Weight category 2 minimum live weight 200 Kg 
Females: Weight category 1 minimum live weight 200 Kg 
All sex categories: W ith no weight limit 
 
4.1.4 Body condition : Body condition shall be scored as ; excellent, good, fair or p oor. 
  
©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
 
  © KEBS 2017 —  All rights reserved 
  
 
 Table 1 : Body conditions score  
Body condition  Description
Excellent  Smooth and well covered,  
Dorsal spine only felt with pressure  
Transverse process cannot be seen 
Heavy fat deposit on tail head, ribs, hooks and pins fully cove red 
Good Ranges from animal with ribs that are visible, little fat cover , dorsalspines barely 
visible to animals that are smooth and well covered, dorsal spi ne cannot 
be seen but easily felt, 
Fair Ranges from animals with dorsal spines pointed to the touch, hi ps, pins, tail-
head and ribs are prominent to animals with transverse process visible 
and muscle mass between hooks and pins slightly concave 
Poor  Marked emaciation with traverse processes projecting prominentl y and neural 
spines appear prominently 
 
 
4.1.5 Body conformation:           
        
Conformation score (CS): shall encompass the symmetry, size and  shape of the various body regions of an 
animal relative to each other or the general appearance of the animal. Three levels of conformation 
encompassing all the identified features shall thus include: 
 
a)  Excellent: animal of good height (tall),with large frame an d long and straight rump, loin and back, 
large heart girth and straight legs; 
 
b)  Good: animals of medium height (not as tall as the one with  excellent conformation),with medium 
frame, shorter but straight rump, loin and back, medium heart g irth and straight legs; 
 
c)  Fair: animals showing defects such as being very short and small frame, a small heart girth in 
relation to the overall body size; features on the skeletal siz e such as lordosis or kyphosis, or feet and 
legs such as being post-legged, buck-kneed, splay-footed, sickl e-hocked among others. 
 
4.2 Cattle grades  
The interaction of the grading characteristics (weight, sex, ag e, body condition, and conformation) shall be 
categorized into four grades: 
  
©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
 
 Table 2: Grades and gradin g parameters for cattle 
Grade  Sex category  Weight 
(Kg) Age Body
condition  Body 
conformation  
1 Castrated 
male Minimum 
300 1-3years 
(One to three  pairs of incisors, not 
worn out) 
 Excellent  Excellent 
Un-castrated 
male Minimum 
300 1-3 years 
(One to two  pairs of incisors, not 
worn out) Excellent Excellent 
Female Minimum 
200 1-3years 
(Two to three  pairs of incisors, not 
worn out) Excellent  Excellent 
2 Castrated 
male Minimum 
200 1-4 (One to four  pairs of incisors, 
not worn out) Good Good 
Un-castrated 
male Minimum 
200 1-4years(0ne to four pairs of 
incisors, not worn out)  Good Good 
Female No limit Four pairs of incisors, not worn 
out, 4-5 years Good Good 
3 All sex 
categories No limit Minimum 2 years ( minimum 2 
pairs of incisors) Fair Fair 
4 All sex 
categories No limit No limit Poor Fair 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
 
  © KEBS 2017 —  All rights reserved 
  
 
 Table 3: Sample Pictorial presentation of grades 
 
Grade  Sex category  Pictorial presentation
 
1 Castrated male 
 Un-castrated 
male 
 Female  
2 Castrated male 
 Un-castrated 
male 
 Female  
3 All sex categories 
 
©KEBS  DKS 2774: PART 1: 2017 
 
 
 4 All sex categories