[chickens]

Two more questions please if anyone can help, we have two sheep that have run freely on our land in the forest and we are not sure how old they are - is there an easy way to tell and we also would like to know what is the latest age that you can eat them

many thanks in advance



nicki

[Rosemary]

You can age a sheep by its teeth. Lambs are born with eight milk teeth; at about 12-15 months, the first two permanent incisors erupt in the front of the mouth; the next two at about 22 months, one on either side of the first two; the next two at about 2 years 3 months  and the last two about 2years 9 months to 3 years. As they age further, eventually they will start to lose teeth through wear and tear.

You can eat them at any age, I suppose - over two years old is classed as mutton, I think.

[pigsatlesrues]

Just out of interest Rosemary, does this method work the same for goats?

Kate 

[woollyval]

Not Rosemary here, but Val!.....answer is yes!......though they tend to keep their teeth longer than sheep!