Steel Raven Farms
Make a upside down U with your hand and place your fingers on either side of the goats spine
Gently press with your fingers. We are checking to see how much fat is between the skin and bone.
Next, gently press on the chest plate. This is the sternum or chest between the front legs
Gently press on the chest plate. We are feeling for the fat between the skin and bone.
Finally, press on the space between and on the ribs. We are feeling for the fat between the skin and bone.
The body condition scale is a scale between 1-5 and goes up in .5 increments. One is skin and bones. 5 is extremally overweight.
Why is it important to know?
Body condition is important to know because this tells you if your goat is healthy "at a touch". It also tells you if your goat has enough fat stores going into winter