Body Scoring

Body condition scoring is a means of assigning a numerical value to the condition of an animal. It forces a more objective evaluation of how fat or thin your llamas are and gives you something to place in the llama’s health records which you can refer back to. It is an excellent means of evaluating your feeding program and making the needed feeding adjustments more accurately. With experience, body condition scoring can be used to compensate for a lack of regular weighing. Weights alone do not give you the whole picture about your llama’s nutritional status. Llamas come in all shapes and sizes and there is a wide range of acceptable weights. Body condition scoring is easier than making lots of charts for acceptable weights based on height and bony structure.

Body condition scoring is very simple and quick to do and can easily be done on a regular basis. It can be done at the time of regular weighing, grooming, deworming and/or vaccination when you are already handling the llama and recording the information. It will help recognize feeding and nutrition problems before they get too severe. It allows for individual tailoring of your feeding program. With all else equal, some animals need more or less food to maintain a good body condition score. Performing body condition scoring is the only way to be able to do this.

Llamas are assigned a numerical value from 1 to 9 based on their body condition. The number 1 signifies an emaciated llama, 9 is a very obese llama and 5 represents optimal condition. A body condition score between 4 and 6 is acceptable. There are several places on the llama to either feel or visualize in order to assign an overall value. You will have to feel the chest, look at the front legs and chest, feel the lumbar area, feel the ribs, and look at the upper rear legs. Never check llamas for body condition by feeling over the pelvis, they will always feel very thin even if they are obese.

It does not really matter what order you perform the exam. Chose an order that is easy for your management system and asses each animal the same way each time. Consistency will make your results more accurate over the long term and make your assessments easier and quicker.

Feel over the spine in the lumbar area. Place your fingers on the center of the spine perpendicular to the direction of the spine just behind the withers. Lay your hand down across the tissues to estimate the slope of the tissue under your hand. Optimally, the llama will have about a 45 degree angle (from horizontal) over the lumbar muscles. A thin llama will have a steeper slope and the tissues will curve in towards the spine from a lack of muscle. Your hand will be more vertical. A fat llama will have less slope in the lumbar area and the tissues will curve out away from the spine from excess fat in the area. Your hand will be more horizontal. Don’t let the wool interfere with your estimate of the angle. You can also roll your fingers back and forth over the top of the spine to determine how easy or difficult it is to feel the bones. In an optimal llama, the spine can be felt but is not extremely prominent. This rolling method also helps to determine the slope of the tissues.

Feel the ribs. Feel the ribs in the fiberless area directly behind the elbow of the front leg and over the middle and widest part of the rib cage. Optimally, you should be able to feel the ribs without a great deal of pressure with your fingers. The ribs will be more apparent and easier to feel on a thin llama. The ribs will be more difficult to feel, if they can be felt at all, without more pressure from your fingers in a fat llama. Take care not to let fiber interfere with your assessment here.

Feel the chest. Optimally, when you lightly pat the palm of your hand on the chest or brisket area, it should feel firm, round and muscular. A thin llama’s chest will feel hard, bony and V-shaped instead of muscular. A fat llama’s chest will feel soft and fatty instead of firm and muscular.

Visualize the front of the llama. Optimally, the llama’s chest will approximate a straight line between the front legs. A thin llama’s chest will look V-shaped and there will be more space between the front legs. A fat llama’s chest will be more rounded and make the front legs look closer together.

Visualize the rear of the llama. Focus your attention near the top of the rear legs close to the body. Optimally, the llamas rear legs should come close together without touching and there should be visible definition in the muscles of the inner thigh. You should be able to see a little bit of the llama’s belly through the back legs. A thin llama will have more space between the rear legs close to the body and less musculature. A fat llama will have the upper thighs touching each other and the muscles will be less defined to make the inner thighs look very smooth. Contact between the thighs will prevent visualization of the belly between the legs

Put all of your individual area assessments together and assign an overall value to your llama. Remember to be objective!

Poor body condition can actually create the appearance of conformation faults. A thin llama may look like it’s legs are too close together. When they walk, they may tend to wing. Winging is when the llama swings the front feet in towards midline and then back out before placing the foot back down. An obese llama will not be able to walk smoothly and will have a tendency to paddle. Paddling is when the llama swings the front legs out away from midline and back inward before placing the foot back down. This is much the way a bulldog walks.

A llama which is too thin will have decreased fertility, decreased resistance to disease and decreased cold tolerance. An overweight llama will have decreased fertility, decreased heat tolerance, decreased available mammary tissue and an increased risk of dissocial. Start body condition scoring and avoid these management problems in your herd.