Wear of sheep's Teeth

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Abstract
Length of incisor teeth of 4 tooth ewes (stocked 7/acre), and soil content of feces, were measured every 6 weeks from Feb. 1965 to Jan. 1966 at the Te Awa hill country research area of the Grasslands Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Wear was low when soil content of feces was low, and rose to a peak as soil content of feces reached a peak, supporting the hypothesis that ingested soil is the main cause of wear. Maximum wear occurred August-Sep., when average tooth wear per animal for 6 weeks was 0.07 in. and soil content of feces was over 40%. Mean total wear for the year per animal was 0.24 in., and about 70% of this occurred in the period July to Oct. suggesting that any control measures must be concentrated in this period.

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