Herc is Officially Old
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325696)
Rockingham, Australia
December 3, 2016 6:32am CST
With all my posts about Herc, our pet sheep, I hope you have learnt something about ovines. Here is a lesson about telling the age of sheep.
The main indicators are the teeth or to be more precise the permanent incisors. Sheep do not have any teeth on the upper jaw but mature sheep have eight incisors and twenty-four molars on the bottom jaw. Instead there is a dense, hard, fibrous pad. Baby lambs have no teeth. By the age of two months, they have eight temporary incisors. Permanent incisors replace these in pairs with the two central teeth appearing first. When this happens, the sheep is said to be a 'two-tooth' (about 19 months old). As each pair of incisors appear either side of the previous pair, they become a four-, six- then eight-tooth or 'full mouth'. The corresponding ages are roughly 22 months (4-tooth), 32 months (6-tooth), and 36 months (full-mouth).
Sheep of the same age may show different dentition depending on breed, dietary conditions and other factors. At some stage after that, a progressive deterioration means the sheep starts to lose teeth. This is described as 'broken mouthed'. Teeth become longer with wide spacing and eventually fall out. Once all the teeth have gone, the sheep is known as a 'gummy'.
Herc is now broken-mouthed so is officially old. He kindly agreed to show his 'broken mouth' for the edification of myLot readers.
33 people like this
34 responses
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
3 Dec 16
Looking at the mouth and teeth is so funky looking.
4 people like this
@CookieMonster46 (13447)
• United States
4 Dec 16
He is a little senior, nice to see his teeth...lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Dec 16
Maybe Herc should have listened to his mother and brushed his teeth when he was told! And he definitely doesn't floss between meals, I can see that from looking at his teeth! haha
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Dec 16
@JudyEv I can imagine the animals would probably not like the taste of the toothpaste at all, or the feel of it on their gums and teeth! Or, on the flip side, they may actually love the taste of it and try to eat or swallow it! haha
I'm sure they probably make special kinds of toothpastes for animals.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Dec 16
@moffittjc It was the rinsing and spitting bit that was the problem. 
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@MarshaMusselman (38652)
• Midland, Michigan
3 Dec 16
I'm not sure that this image edifies me, but it surely is interesting. It looks to me like those incisors are on his upper jaw, but you said they don't ever have teeth on the upper jaw? Did I understand that correctly? So, how old roughly, is Herc? And how long may he live yet?
Do you need to feed him more mashed foods or because of the hard, fibrous pad is he still able to eat fairly normally?
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Dec 16
Sheep only have teeth on the lower jaw. I'll add another photo which shows it better. Herc is around 13 and looks very good at the moment. I'm hoping he'll live another year or two. He eats fairly normally but as he loses more teeth it will get harder for him. He gets some sheep pellets now just to keep him in good condition and I'll increase the amount if he starts to lose weight. I guess it won't be the easiest to eat them but he'll get more nutrition from less food with pellets. Sometimes sheep do better when all their teeth have gone.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38652)
• Midland, Michigan
7 Dec 16
@JudyEv At first it still looked to me like they were coming down from the top not from the bottom. It looks like their teeth might be similar to ours in that the larger section is what they use to maw on much like our molars? I thought those were four teeth with sharp bottoms not flat tops. Thanks for the newer image.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Dec 16
@MarshaMusselman I have been saying 'lose all their teeth' blah blah but I really mean they only lose the 8 incisors. There are 24 molars that they will have to still chew up their food.
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (51511)
• Philippines
3 Dec 16
Does he have senior citizen card? 
at least he was proud of it.
at least he was proud of it.2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Dec 16
He should qualify for a card then his pellets might be a bit cheaper.
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
4 Dec 16
Sad that even the animals age, isn't it?
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Dec 16
It is sad and generally they come to the end of the line before we do. Cockatoos (and I guess turtles) are the only ones likely to outlive their owners.
@RasmaSandra (73365)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
3 Dec 16
Well old or not I still say long live Herc! Give him a virtual hug from me. Tell him there's a crazy lady online who lives sheep.
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (79699)
• United States
3 Dec 16
Awww poor Herc hope he manages to hold onto those few teeth for awhile longer
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Dec 16
They used to clip their teeth as they found it easier to feed with shorter teeth but they don't seem to do that anymore.
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
3 Dec 16
Having raised lambs for a number of years these are facts I wasn't aware of. I do know how badly those sharp teeth could mangle you whe you tried to get a tablet down their throats. Next season we settled for shots. My son in law was pretty good at doing it for us.
2 people like this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
3 Dec 16
Poor old guy will need his feed ground up for him soon.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
16 Dec 16
Truly, we have learned things about sheep we never knew. You really know a lot about them and I'm sure Herc appreciates that.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Dec 16
@JamesHxstatic We all need a dream in life don't we? :)
1 person likes this
@CRK109 (14558)
• United States
4 Dec 16
I've always loved having a pet in my life, but I get sick to my stomach when I realize they are getting old. My Ruby is 13 now and she does sometimes show signs of her age. She also plays around like a kitten at other times, and that just makes me laugh out loud. I've loved getting to know Herc.
1 person likes this
