Author Topic: Sheep teeth. (Read 5451 times)

Hevxxx99 · « **on:** May 05, 2015, 12:08:52 am »

I had an odd thing today: I have an elderly ewe who I swear has a slightly crooked "bite" or jaw.

She appeared to have a golfball sized swelling on her face today, but on closer investigation, it turned out to be a wodge of compacted, chewed grass. I stuck my finger in her mouth and with some difficulty managed to remove at least most of it. I was thinking I should probably try and flush it out as well but it isn't something I've come across before.

It felt as though she had fairly sharp teeth in there: is it possible/necessary to file sheep's teeth??

Backinwellies · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2015, 07:06:49 am »

Sheep's teeth start to break and drop out from about the age of 5 .... time to cull once this happens as ewe will be unable to intake enough to sustain her ( but before I as shot down..... yes you can soft feed her for years after this if you have 'pets' )

shep53 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2015, 12:41:44 pm »

PLEASE KEEP FINGERS OUT , iv'e seen very badly lacerated fingers . All sheep chew their cud in the side and as said as they get older teeth get slack / sharp / infected and can lead to cud spilling where the cud falls out the mouth unground , so the sheep starts to loose condition.

Hevxxx99 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2015, 02:44:22 pm »

Her incisors are fine and I'm pretty sure she has all her molars too, but they seemed very sharp to me. My finger was between her molar teeth and the cheek, where she had this lump of chewed grass firmly wedged and remained there while she was fed nuts.

I'm used to horses teeth and if I put my had in my horses mouth (not something I do very frequently, but it has been known) and found teeth that sharp, I'd get the horse dentist out pronto. I'm just wondering if similar tooth filing takes place with sheep?

It occurs to me that her crooked bite may be due to overgrown and sharp molars on one side and with a bit of attention would improve her chewing ability no end and stop this wodgy thing happening.

fsmnutter · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2015, 03:30:27 pm »

As a vet, if faced with this sheep at the surgery I'd definitely have a go at rasping her teeth like a horses, but bear in mind that the gag for opening a horse's mouth will not fit a sheep, and the rasps designed for horses are also very big for a sheep mouth, but sounds like the symptoms could well warrant a go.
I'd call your vet.
Hope that helps

verdifish · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2015, 03:44:48 pm »

Id use a dremmel type multi tool with a wee bit of sedation !

Maureen · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2015, 04:31:11 pm »

I read about a goat sanctuary which uses gags for teeth filing - I will try to find out and post back as these should be ideal for sheep

Hevxxx99 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2015, 05:56:10 pm »

Thanks. Now I think, I'm sure I've seen photos somewhere of something that looks like a medieval instument of torture (or a stand and earth spike for an electric fence unit) that was used to hold sheep's mouths open.

She has another wodge today. I left it to see if she can clear it herself. Maybe she does it on purpose and keeps it for a late night snack. I haven't seen her do it before yesterday though.

Melmarsh · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2015, 07:17:41 pm »

Hi ! I had a goat that did this, she wasn't very old 3-4yrs when she started doing it. I had her teeth filed under sedation but it made no difference, her jaw looked OK but she continued to store her cud on one side . I took it out regularly and goats are another one of those animals that you don't want to mess about in their mouths too often but at least my gaot was tame !! I can't honestly remember when or why I had her euthanased but whilst alive it never seemed to bother her and she never got out of condition either. Good Luck

?