Cows which are too fat are above a 3.5 in body condition score. If cows are between these two points then body condition score is acceptable. We may assess the body condition of a herd based on the percentage of outliers observed at point in time. Body condition outliers are defined as cows below a 2.5 and above a 3.5 for the following reasons. Cows which are below a 2.5 have mobilized most of their body fat reserves located in subcutaneous, intermuscular and omental spaces.
Body fat is still present within muscle bundles and internal organs such as heart, liver and kidney.
These cows have very little fat reserves to meet any additional energy demands in lactation. Cows that are defined as too fat are those that are above a 3.5 because these cows have been shown to have depressed dry matter intakes at calving. These cows will lose more body condition than cows which are 3.5 or lower in body condition at calving. This puts these cows at risk for metabolic problems. We may approach body condition scoring by ranking the percentage of cows that are too thin or too fat.