General Management of the Flock. 31 



place long before the sheep was two years old. 

 Heavy forcing in feeding will often hasten the 

 early changing of the teeth. 



At about four years of age, when the last pair 

 of milk teeth has been replaced and the sheep 

 has its full set of permanent teeth, the teeth will 

 again be found more uniform. They will now be 

 nearly as uniform as the full set of milk teeth the 

 lamb had at first. Howrvrr, the permanent teeth 

 are all larger than the milk teeth and may be worn 

 so that the corners are rounded off or the tops flat- 

 tened, while the milk teeth are sharp and square. 

 From the time the sheep is a yearling until it 

 reaches the age of four years we do not find uni- 

 formity in the size and shape of the teeth, as there 

 are always some of the permanent and some of 

 the milk teeth present, and the latter are narrower 

 and comparatively smaller than the permanent 

 teeth. 



After the age of four years no one can tell the 

 exact age of a sheep by its teeth. However, well- 

 experienced men can guess pretty closely by the 

 looks of a sheep's face whether it is a five, seven, 

 or eight-ryear-old. Many times the seven or eight- 

 year-old has lost some of its teeth, or they may be 

 loose in the mouth. The writer has seen rare cases, 

 where he knew the exact age of the sheep, in 



