Body condition scores (BCS) are an important measure of overall health and wellbeing in camelids. After a wet October and November this year, this is even more crucial as we see a deterioration of grass quality and nutrient levels.
Managing a camelid’s BCS is vitally important to ensuring they enter winter and the following spring in the correct condition, particularly if the hembra is pregnant.
Poor BCS mean the animal is not getting the nutrition it needs, and in extreme cases this can result in fatty liver syndrome or ketosis. As BCS falls occur over a period of time, it is likely the animal’s diet will have been in negative energy balance (NEB) for some time before the problem becomes apparent. It is important to look at camelid diets and management each season to avoid costly BCS, including cria or even camelid losses.
Causes of Decreased Body Condition Scores
One significant cause of BCS loss can be poor nutrient levels in grass, particularly during the autumn and winter months. Although there is little data on grass levels from November onwards, Grass Check GB (supplied by AgriNet) represents a good source of recorded grass quality as of 21st October 2024 - 10.8 Metabolisable Energy (ME) MJ/kg, 17.7% Dry Matter (DM), 21.4% Crude Protein and <25kg DM growth per hectare.
We do have to be careful interpreting data, however, as this data will largely be recorded from the dairy/beef sector of well-managed, younger higher quality leys as opposed to permanent pasture. Management also includes fertiliser application of land especially in regard to influencing nitrogen/protein levels, a key nutrient for glucose production in a camelid. Whether the animal has access to grass over the winter is clearly a crucial factor.
Protein levels of grass fall in the autumn/winter based on one of the key limiting factors – sunlight hours & quality (seasonal), soil temperature, moisture/rainfall, and nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and sulphur levels within the grass. Moisture never tends to be a problem - in fact this can form a significant proportion of the seen grass with less nutritional value, meaning the camelid has to eat much more to reach the same level of energy compared to earlier in the season.
Managing Your Herd's Body Condition Scores
Supplementation with additional forage, hay and hard feed is often the solution but planning before body condition losses (BCS) are seen is essential. The higher levels of water consumed means quicker throughput in faeces, so hay plays a good role in adding some structural fibre as well as helping to keep the C1 at a better fill rate. The maintenance level of the camelid is higher when grazing autumnal grass and so more additional energy is required for grazing and digestion to utilise the grass. From November, camelids should ideally be brought in or supplemented with additional hay, forage as well as complementary hard feeds.
Hard feed such as beet pulp and other straights (e.g. grass pellets) can help. Fibregest and Fibregrass have been developed to aid BCS but also to manage some of the macro minerals which will be lower in grazed grass. These particularly include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and sodium. Regardless of how you feed this additional energy, it is important to bolster the shortfall and hard feed offers a simpler solution unless you have access to a higher energy forage. There is always the temptation whilst visual grass is available to avoid feeding supplementary forages or feed, but a well-balanced feed can utilise this grass and maintain energy levels and BCS together.
In extreme cases, fatty liver syndrome is caused when a camelid is in negative energy balance and BCS loss occurs, often during lactation or pregnancy. Higher feed rates and fat deposits earlier in the year coupled with insufficient supplies later in the year can result in insufficient energy or glucose supply, leading to fatty liver syndrome.
This overfeeding earlier in the year causes animals to store fat and nutrients, including in the bloodstream and within the liver. The drop in energy balance later in the year then exacerbates the situation, right at the time when more energy is required.
A vet has aids for measuring such risks through blood NEFAs, βeta-hydroxybutyrate, urea-N and albumin levels, amongst other tests. A clear sign of fatty liver is elevated levels of NEFAS (non-esterified fatty acids), showing that the camelid is mobilising fat reserves and clearly in negative energy balance.
Visual Signs of Fatty Liver Syndrome
• Poor appetite
• High ketones
• Weakness
• Behavioural changes
• Lethargy
• Icterus (yellowing of mucus membranes around gums, mouth & eyes)
In such situations, we have learned of the ability of the vitamin choline to mobilise fat reserves particularly in the liver either preventing build up or accelerating removal. This helps to redress the energy imbalance. Additional hard feed or nutrients (such as Fibregrass or Fibregest) should also be fed, and can provide additional protein for glucose production.
Our recommendation is that a planned supplementary feeding before BCS losses become apparent is the most cost-effective approach to managing the issue. Once a camelid has fatty liver syndrome, the risk of loss or lower performance is far higher.
