A Guide to Fecal Scoring

Nutritional value of your forage can be determined by scoring fecal samples. By assigning a score of 1-4 to random fresh cow pies, with 1 being the runniest and 4 being hard and stacked, a producer can estimate quality and use these scores as an aid for determining supplementation rates.

According to the Virginia Tech Dept. of Dairy Science, fecal scores are defined and described as:

1 = runny; liquid consistency, splatters on impact, spreads readily

2 = loose; may pile slightly and spreads and splatter moderately on impact and settling

3 = soft; firm but not hard, piles but spreads slightly on impact and settling

4 = dry; hard, dry appearance, original form not distorted on impact and settling

Stallings, 1998

This is a great example of 1. The cow is not ill or stressed and has not had a change of condition, feed, water, or other change. From this pile, we can tell that her diet is VERY high in protein. Supplementation is not needed. If it is summer time, high protein and energy is probably not your problem (if it is, thats a good problem to have!). Watered down and runny manure piles could indicate high water intake due to heat stress. Also, if you're on a wheat pasture, you're going to have painted butts. Wheat has a very high water content, its only about 20% dry matter. So, if the cow needs 20 lbs of dry matter a day, she would have to eat 100 lbs of feed a day to meet her nutrient requirements. WOW! And she's going to drink about 8-10 gallons of water a day? That's 180 lbs of feed and water per day. A rumen of an adult cow can hold between 30-60 gallons of feed. 

This pile is a perfect 2. The protein and fiber ratio is balanced and there should be no need for supplementation. 

This is a 3. Here is what I mean when I talk about "stacking". Fiber is high where as energy and protein are low. Meaning? You have low quality forage out there. At first sign of piles like this, you should begin supplementing soon as to not cause nutritional stress on your cattle.

Here is a 4. As you can see, the impaction structure is not distorted when the pile hits the ground.

Your cattle are protein deficient.

Using this guide to scoring the fecal piles of your herd can be useful tool to determine a proper supplementation rate that is specific to your region. Neighboring pastures or herds may have different needs due to physiological phase of the herd or the forage availability. For fun, you can score the following piles in the comment section below.

Happy ruminating,

The Bos Lady

A) Score this pile.

B) Score this pile.

C) Score this pile.