Credits:Biovision-Infonet
To know the age of sheep, you can examine the teeth. Breakdown of the teeth is a very common reason for culling small stock under range management, as poor quality teeth will affect the ability to browse and feed well.
Lambs have 8 temporary teeth that erupt at approximately 2 months of age. They will be replaced by larger and wider permanent teeth between 12 months and 4 years of age. At this point they will have all their teeth. Sheep don’t have top front teeth.
Sheep mouth & teeth
20 Temporary teeth
32 Permanent teeth at maturity
4 pairs of Incisor teeth on lower jaw
Upper incisors missing
Cartilaginous (hard) dental pad on upper jaw
Split upper lip with mobile lips
Age of Sheep (teeth)
Lamb 4 pair of Incisors
1 year middle pair of Incisors
2 years 2nd pair of permanent Incisors
3 years 3rd pair of permanent Incisors
4 years 4th pair of permanent Incisors
5 years all permanent Incisors close together
6 years Incisors begin spreading apart
7-8 years some Incisors broken
10-12 years all Incisors missing