Body composition of Simmental cows and the relation of fat content to body condition parameters
- Publication Type
- Contribution to conference
- Authors
- Steyer M, Ettle T, Spiekers H, Rodehutscord M
- Year of publication
- 2012
- Published in
- Proc. Soc. Nutr. Physiol.
- Band/Volume
- 21/
- Series/labeling
- Proceedings of the Society of Nutrition Physiology / Berichte der Gesellschaft für Ernährungsphysiologie
- ISBN / ISSN / eISSN
- 978-3-7690-4105-7
- Page (from - to)
- 83
- Conference name
- 66. GfE-Tagung
- Conference location
- Göttingen
- Conference date
- 20.-22.03.2012
- Keywords
- body composition, cow, Fett
The estimation of body fat reserves in cows has become an important part of dairy herd management. Commonly used methods to estimate fat reserves like body condition score (BCS) and backfat thickness (BFT) can only assess subcutaneous depots. The proportion of internal and subcutaneous depots, however, has been reported to differ significantly between breeds (1). Due to a lack of data the present study was conducted to determine the body composition of modern Simmental cows and to investigate the relation of BCS and BFT to whole body fat content.