Association of body condition score with ultrasound backfat and longissimus dorsi muscle depth in different breeds of dairy sheep

Abstract

• BCS correlates weakly to moderately with backfat thickness in dairy sheep . • Differences up to 0.5 BCS unit exist among breeds at same fat and muscle depots. • Muscle thickness increases at a higher rate than backfat across BCS changes. • Development of a new BCS scale to assess body reserves in dairy sheep is essential.