A NOTE ON THE POTENTIAL CONJOINT USE OF BODY CONDITION SCORES AND MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATIONS AS AN INDEX OF DIETARY ADEQUACY IN LACTATING DAIRY-COWS

The relationships between values for milk protein content (MP) and body condition score (BSC) were compared on a group of 30 farms in western Asturias, northern Spain during the autumn of 1990. There was a marked positive relationship (P < 0.01) in between-farm variation in the two factors; a similar relationship has been reported from experiments in Scotland. It is suggested that an index based on the deviation of values for MP and BCS from normal or mean values might be useful, especially in advisory work, to indicate rapidly the dietary energy adequacy on individual frms. However, note would have to be taken of the known changes in MP and BCS with, for example, age of cow and stage of lactation