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Fat or skinny? Body Condition Scoring

    "Sweet Goat Mama"

This time of year its hard to tell whether or not 

those fuzzy goats are fat enough. Here's a quick 

no-brainer way that only requires you put your hands

on the goat to tell. This scores the goat from 1 to 3 

and, while not really complex helps you make an 

instant assessment.

First: Run your finger across the ribs parallel to t

he ground and the spine. Start at the front of the ribs

about where the goat's barrel starts to round back in.

(Approx. 4-6 inches from the spine on a small kid up 

to about 8-12 on a larger goat.

Then, take one hand and make a fist. Then with the 

other hand, run the index finger of the other hand

along three places on the fisted hand.

1. Just above the back of the hand on the fingers, 

(Where a ring would sit if you were wearing one on 

each finger). This will feel very bumpy, as you 

will hit over and between each finger.

2. On the back of the hand just below where the fingers

are attached and just below the knuckles. Remember

you are still making a fist. This should feel very smooth.

3. Across the back of the hand just above the

wrist. Unless you are very thin, you should feel no bumps.

HOW TO SCORE:

After checking each spot on your hand, compare it

to your feeling on the ribs. If it matches the first,

the goat is too thin. If it matches the second the goat

is about right, maybe slightly thin but healthy. If it 

matches the third the goat is on the verge of too fat.

If you can't feel any bumps at all, it's diet time.

The beauty of this method is that you can apply

it quickly as you walk through the barn. The only way

to tell if a fuzzy goat is fat enough is with your hands.

You can do this with every goat a couple of times

a week and see if problems are building or if it's 

just right. And you need no special equipment, in fact,

after you get good at it you can just run the finger on 

the ribs and you will know if the goat is losing,

gaining, or staying the same.

    "Sweet Goat Mama"