WEAR ON SHEEP'S TEETH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 98, 14 July 1944, Page 2

WEAR ON SHEEP'S TEETH

MASSEY COLLEGE TRIALS The problem of deterioration of sheep's teeth, which naturally has an important bearing on the health and productivity of the animal, has been under investigation by Massey Agricultural College for some considerable. time. The problem, which is apparently becoming more serious in some parts of New Zealand, has two aspects: (a) variation in the rate of wear of the teeth of sheep kept under the same conditions: in one flock, and (b) differences in wear between districts. The question is no doubt a complex one, but the fact that the trouble is encountered to a lesser extent on unimproved hill pastures than on the more highly improved lands may give a clue to the cause of this defect. Such factors as heredity, management (closeness of grazing, manuring, feeding practices,. etc.) as well as the, broader influences of soil and pasture type, are probably concerned. Interesting results, particularly in regard to rates of eruption of the teeth during the growth of sheep, have been obtained by the College in its six-year trials on two types of what, at the beginning, were twotooth ewes. Casts of the mouths were made each year, and the experiment, now in its final stages, will shortly be made the subject of a publication.