110 LIVE-STOCK 



must get some green fodder or grass and also some nitrogen- 

 ous and fatty food stuffs, such as oil-cakes and cotton seed. 

 Bulls and working cattle should, in addition to fodder and 

 straw, get some special food. Common salt is as necessary to 

 cattle as it is to man, and a tola or two per head should be given 

 daily mixed with food. Proper housing must be provided, 

 and cattle must be protected from exposure and wind during 

 inclement weather. 



Age of cattle. 



The age of cattle is estimated by means of the teeth and 

 also by the rings or nicks round the horn. The first ring 

 appears at the third year, and then each year is supposed to add 

 a ring, so that if there are two rings, the animal is considered! 

 four years old, if three rings, five years old and so on. The] 

 rings are, however, not always well marked, and it is much ' 

 safer to judge the age by the teeth. 



Dentition. — The dentition of cattle is typical of the: 

 ruminants. At or within a month after birth the calf has! 

 eight incisors, or six incisors and two canines, in the lower jaw] 

 (the canines are shaped exactly like the incisors and situated! 

 close, to them and are generally regarded as incisors) and 

 twelve premolars, three on each side above and below. The! 

 upper jaw has no incisors nor canines and is provided instead] 

 with a cartilaginous pad (dental pad) . All these are temporary ] 

 or milk-teeth, and they are replaced later by permanent ones. ] 

 Three molars on each side of each jaw behind the premolars 

 come up and complete the permanent dentition. The number] 

 of permanent teeth is thus 32. Until the eight permanent! 

 incisors are completed when the animal is said to be full-J 

 mouthed, the age can be told with correctness. After this,! 

 ageing is a matter of guesswork from the extent to which the! 

 teeth are worn. 



Dental formula for milk teeth — 



Incisors - — - , premolars - — -. Total 20. 

 4 — 4 o — o 



Dental formula for permanent teeth — 



A A Q O Q q 



Incisors -— , premolars ~ — ^, molars - — - . Total 32.  



The top figures show the teeth on each side of the upper*! 

 jaw and the bottom figures the teeth on each I side of thef 

 lower jaw. 



