An old saying advises never to look a gift horse in the mouth.
However, a sheep researcher from Quebec says sheep with bad teeth are never a bargain, no matter what the asking price.
Johanne Cameron, who has a 600-head flock and works for CEPOQ, Quebec’s centre for excellence in sheep production, said because of sheep’s particular dental morphology, the bottom row of teeth must perfectly match the upper jawbone, known as the upper maxillary.
An underbite will affect a lamb’s ability to suckle. In older animals, bad teeth become more pronounced as they age and lead to lower feed intake and lower body condition.
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“Beak of hare,” or an overbite, is especially bad for sheep pastured on short grass because the malformed jaw compromises their ability to graze.
Sheep owners must be especially vigilant and cull ewes or rams with bad teeth because the genetics behind the condition are easily passed to offspring.
“Young ram lambs at six months, sometimes the teeth will be just a bit over,” she said.
“You know that for sure when they are yearlings the incisors will begin to protrude.”
Feet and leg problems may be less significant than bad teeth, but they affect the comfort of the animal, its ability to breed consistently and its longevity.
Front legs must be parallel and straight under the animal, without twisted knees, outturned pasterns or twisting, which becomes more exaggerated with age. For back legs, curves at the hock are a sign of bad genes that could eventually affect mobility.
For feet, heels should be deep with a pastern that is not too long.
Cameron said body capacity is important in ewes.
“Ewes need to eat a lot. They need space for the rumen and heart and lungs.”
Animals that are narrow in the front with less space between the front legs are inferior.
At the girth, good sheep are deeper at the shoulder with a longer back and a full, rounded rump to provide more loin cuts per carcass.
Animals with bigger, rounder bone structure tend to grow faster, she added.
“For breeding females, we want big capacity so that they can eat as much forages as they can. Those that eat less produce less,” she said.
Rams must have good scrotal circumference at breeding, she said, and those with a circumference of less than 30 centimetres should be rejected.
