Body condition table

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Henneke Body Condition Scoring

Condition	Neck:Bone Structure	Withers:Bone Structure	Loin	Tailhead	Ribs	Shoulder
1 Poor	Noticeable	Noticeable	Spinous processes profect prominently	Tailhead, pinbones, and hook bones prominent	Ribs project prominently	Bone structure easily noticeable
Animal extremely emaciated; no fatty tissue can be felt
2 Very Thin	Faintly discernable	Faintly discernable	Slight fat covering over base of spinous process; transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae feel rounded; spinous processes are prominent	Tail head prominent	Ribs prominent	Faintly discernable
3 Thin	Neck accentuated	Accentuated	Fat buildup halfway on spinous processes but easily discernable; transverse processes connot be felt	Tail head prominent but individual vertebrae cannot be visually identified; Hook bones at rear rounded, but are easily discernable; Pin bones not distinguishable	Slight fat cover over ribs; ribs easily discernable	Shoulder accentuated
4 Moderately Thin	Not obvious thin	Not obviously thin	Negative crease along back	Prominence depends on conformation; Fat can be felt; hook bones not discernable	Faint outline discernable	Shoulder not obviously thin
5 Moderate	Blends smoothly into body	Rounded over spinous processes	Back level	Fat around tailhead beginning to feel spongy	Ribs cannot be visually distinguished but can be easily felt	Shoulder blends into body
6 Moderately Fleshy	Fat begining to be deposited	Fat begining to be deposited	May have slight positive crease down back	Fat around tailhead feels soft	Fat over ribs feels spongy	Fat beginning to be deposited; point of shoulder not discernable
7 Fleshy	Fat deposited along neck	Fat deposited along withers	May have positive crease down back	Fat around tailhead is soft	Individual ribs can be felt, but noticeable filling between ribs with fat	Fat deposited behind shoulder
8 Fat	Noticeable thickening of neck	Area along wither filled with fat	Positive crease down back	Fat around tailhead is very soft	Difficult to feel ribs	Area behind shoulder filled in flush with body
Fat deposited along inner buttocks
9 Extremely Fat	Bulging fat	Bulging fat	Obvious positive crease down back	Bulging fat around tailhead	Patchy fat appearing over ribs	Bulging fat
Fat along inner buttocks may rub together, flank filled in flush