Autumn Management of the Flock 165 



that a good breeding ewe should be kept as long as 

 she will breed. Occasionally there are ewes that 

 will continue to breed good lambs until nine or ten 

 years of age, long after they have lost the power of 

 getting into marketable condition. In pure-bred 

 flocks, the extra value of the lambs from such ewes 

 much more than overbalances the loss from being 

 unable to realize upon them when they finally 

 succumb. Special attention in feeding such ewes 

 after their teeth are gone is also well repaid. In a 

 strictly commercial flock, however, it is more eco- 

 nomical to discard ewes before they are too far gone 

 to bring a fair price from the butcher. The aim 

 should be to keep the flock composed mainly of ewes 

 four or flve years old. Two-year-olds with first 

 lambs are not as reliable as when older, and the third 

 and fourth years should be the most profitable ones. 

 After five years of age, a ewe is likely to have a 

 broken mouth and to be less thrifty on that account. 

 The age of losing the teeth varies with breeds and 

 individuals. 



Dentition of sheep. — The age is told largely by the 

 order of the appearance of the permanent incisors. 

 The temporary incisors that are characteristic of 

 lambs are quite different from the permanent ones, 

 which begin to appear when the lamb is about one 

 year old. The temporary incisors are very long 

 and narrow and constricted at the neck, and they 

 are white in color. There are eight of these, and they 



