Resource icon

Determining Age

Unfortunately you don't know for certain unless you were there when they were born or trust the person you got the animal from. Fortunately you can use their TEETH (of all things!) to give you a rough idea of the year they were born.

Sheep and goats lose a pair of baby incisors every year (starting with the middle pair and moving outward) until they have a full mouth (all adult teeth). After a year or two of having a full mouth, their teeth start to show wear and may even break or fall out. A really old critter will have no teeth at all.

Less than one year old - 1.5 month old lamb

e5294550-63ae-4e92-bd69-c8dde67a4423_zps61f88fe0.jpg


Less than one year old - 11.5 month old lamb

DSCN9577_zpsd8e1a17e.jpg


One year old

DSCN7605_zpscc59b291.jpg


Two years old

DSCN9629_zps58e4d934.jpg


Three years old

[pic]

Four years old (this ewe has a full mouth--all permanent teeth; however, notice how her mouth conformation is poor: she has an overbite, and her teeth are not centered which can be attributed to the fact that she lost one of her three year baby tooth when she was just a couple weeks old)

DSCN0022.JPG


Older than five years old (considered broken teeth because they have uneven wear)

DSCN9015_zpsc14d9709.jpg


Gummer

[pic]
Author
SheepGirl
Views
2,285
First release
Last update
Rating
5.00 star(s) 2 ratings

More resources from SheepGirl

Latest reviews

Wow, fantastic pics! Great job with this!!!
SheepGirl
SheepGirl
Thank you!
Great article!
SheepGirl
SheepGirl
Thanks!
Top