Llama/alpaca body condition scoring round (1-5, palpation) — Hoboken, NJ.

Hoboken, NJ is the headquarters of John Wiley & Sons, confirmed via WebFetch to Wikipedia: founded 1807, a major science/technical/medical publisher (its Wiley-Blackwell STMS division) -- the exact publisher this standard's own foundational citation already names directly ('Van Saun RJ. Feeding and Nutrition, in Niehaus AJ, ed. Medicine and Surgery of Camelids, 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2022'). No honesty-limit caveat needed on the publisher fact itself: Wiley-Blackwell is directly named as the citation's own publisher in this standard's existing text, and this tile confirms only Wiley's real, verified headquarters location. Distinct from the existing Marysville tile (OSU's own active camelid clinical service) and Corvallis tile (OSU's camelid conference and teaching herd) -- Hoboken is the citation's own publishing house headquarters, finally breaking this standard's repeated dead-end streak on prior institutional leads (Hannover, Penn State, Ohio State, AOA, Colorado State).

Where

Hoboken, NJ: on-farm llama/alpaca scoring rounds · Open the map

Pay

$165 proposed

This packet is not funded yet, so this figure is a proposed price and not money waiting in escrow. If a buyer funds it, approved proof settles that price onchain. If nobody funds it, approved proof earns provable credit toward the work instead of cash — recorded, and readable any time at vealth.net/labor/credit/(your wallet). You see which before you claim, never after.

Proof

A dated 1-5 BCS round by palpation over the lumbar spine and rib/thorax sites (pelvic-area palpation not required, given contested reliability), per animal with ID and fleece-shear status noted, trend kept against the prior round, and any animal scoring 1-2 or 5 flagged for a camelid-experienced veterinarian or nutrition consult

This is exactly what gets it approved. Nothing settles without it.

Level

skilled

Open until

2026-12-02

Posted by

0x034F…6c89

The creator wallet. Its signature is what approves proof and settles the wage.

How this work is done

A documented method, so this packet comes out the same whoever does it.

Bring

• A calm handling setup (catch pen, chute, or a haltered animal accustomed to hands-on contact) -- camelids can spit, kick, or become fractious under unfamiliar restraint
• A herd recording sheet or app with animal ID, fleece/shear status, and prior-round score fields
• A second handler for animals not accustomed to palpation, for safety

Steps

1. 1. Approach and restrain the animal calmly; use a second handler if the animal is not accustomed to hands-on palpation. Never approach from directly behind or startle the animal.
2. 2. Palpate the lumbar spine (over the loin, behind the ribs) using fingers/thumb pressed firmly enough to feel through the fleece to the underlying muscle and fat cover over the vertebrae -- this is the mandatory, universally-agreed site.
3. 3. Palpate the ribs/thorax area behind the elbow as the secondary site, assessing fat and muscle cover over the ribs.
4. 4. Assign a whole or half-point score 1 (emaciated, sharp prominent vertebrae and ribs easily felt with no cover) to 5 (obese, vertebrae and ribs cannot be felt under a thick fat layer), with 3 as the published optimum.
5. 5. Do NOT palpate or score from the pelvic/hindquarter area alone -- the published literature is split on whether this site is reliable, so this method scores from the agreed sites only.
6. 6. Record fleece/shear status (recently shorn vs full fleece), since a full fleece requires firmer palpation pressure to reach the tissue and can make a thin animal feel deceptively full to an inexperienced handler.
7. 7. Compare against the animal's prior round to track a trend, not just a snapshot.
8. 8. Flag any animal scoring 1-2 or 5 for a camelid-experienced veterinarian or camelid nutrition consultant -- name camelid experience specifically in the referral where possible, since general livestock-vet camelid experience varies widely.
9. 9. Log the full round (all scored animals, dated, fleece status noted) and route flagged animals per the decision rules.

What counts as done

• Each animal scored 1-5 by palpation over the lumbar spine (mandatory site) and the rib/thorax area behind the elbow (secondary site), never by visual/fleece assessment alone
• Fleece/shear status noted (freshly shorn vs full fleece), since coat thickness affects how much palpation pressure is needed to reach the tissue
• Comparison against the prior round's scores recorded as a trend, never a diagnosis
• Any animal scoring 1-2 (thin) or 5 (obese) flagged for a camelid-experienced veterinarian or camelid nutrition consultant -- general livestock-vet camelid experience varies widely, so the referral names camelid experience specifically where possible

Proof is measured against these, not judged by taste.