364 



JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



permanent teeth are hastened in development. To the 

 contrary, neglect or starvation, retards development. One 

 well-known handler of sheep, Mr. Frank Kleinheinz, states 6 

 that he has seen rare cases where sheep did not change the 

 first pair of teeth until they were eighteen and in one case 

 nineteen months old. In this instance, shortly after the 

 first change oc- 

 curred, the second 

 took place, yet long 

 before the sheep 

 was two years old. 

 "When the .sheep is 

 about twenty-four 

 months old, two 

 more large incisors 

 appear, one on 

 each side of the 

 yearling teeth, 

 pushing out the 

 two milk teeth in 

 the way. The pres- 

 ence of four large 

 incisors and four 

 small ones, indi- 

 cates that the sheep 

 is a two-year old. 

 At about thirty- 

 six months of age, 

 two more large in- 

 cisors appear, one 



on each side of the second permanent pair, indicating 

 the animal to be a three-year old. Finally, at about 

 forty-eight months of age, the last pair appears, all the 

 milk teeth have been shed, and eight strong incisors indicate 

 the sheep to be four years of age. The central teeth are 

 always somewhat the largest, and as they are the oldest, 



6 Sheep Management, 1911, p. 29. 



Fig. 200. "Then the lips may be gently 

 parted with the thumb and forefinger, showing 

 the incisor teeth." 



