Teeth, tags, and a TSE

SUSAN SCHOENIAN

Sheep & Goat SpecialistWestern Maryland Research

& Education CenterUniversity of Maryland Extension

www.sheepandgoat.comsschoen@umd.edu

(301) 432-2767 x343

Today’s topics

• Teeth– Mouthing sheep and goats

to estimate age – Mouthing sheep and goats

to determine soundness• Tags

– Methods of identifying sheep and goats

– Ear tagging basics• TSE

– Scrapie in sheep and goats– Tagging requirements

Mature sheep and goats have 32 teethLambs and kids have 20 temporary teeth

MolarsBack teethIncisors

(front teeth)

Dental padno teeth

Picture source: Merck Veterinary Manual, 8th edition

Mouthing sheep and goats to estimate age

• You can estimate the approximate age of sheep and goats by determining the age at which the milk teeth are replaced by permanent incisors.

• Age varies by individual animal, breed, environment, and nutrition.

< 1

1-2

2-3

3-4

> 4

Old

Source for illustrations: Adapted from Vatta et al. (2005) Goatkeepers' Veterinary Manual.

Lamb – less than 1 year of age

All temporary

Baby teethMilk teeth

Yearling (1-2 years)

1 pair

2 to 3 year old

2 pairs

3 to 4 year old

3 pairs

4-5 years old – solid mouth

4 pairs

7-8 year old – Solid mouth

< 4 pairs

10-11 year old broken mouth

11+ years old“Gummer”

Jawabnormalities

Another way to tell how old a sheep is

Mature sheep, > 2 years2 spool joints

Lamb, > 12 months2 break joints

Yearling, 13-24 monthsspool and/or break joints

Identifying sheep and goats• Permanent– Ear tags– Tattoos– Ear notches– Electronic ID

• Temporary– Neck chains or collars– Paint brands– Paint sprays– Markers or paint sticks

Ear tagging basics

Proper tags Proper tool

Ear tagging basics

Proper restraint Proper placement

How to reduce ear tag infections

• Tag young animals• Tag clean, dry ears• Tag when humidity is

low.• Use smaller tag• Avoid metal tags• Punch a hole in the

ear before inserting tag

How to reduce ear tag infections

• Apply lubricating antiseptic to male and female parts of tag

• Dip in iodine• Soak ear tags in

alcohol or another disinfectant before inserting.

Cut out infected tags

How to reduce tag losses

• Insert tag 1 to 2 inches from skull– Thicker part of ear– Less snagging

• Put female part of tag on inside of ear– Less snagging

• Avoid large veins

What to do if animal loses a tag• 4-H tag

– Contact 4-H office

• Scrapie ID– Put in a new scrapie tag

1. Own flock/herd2. Flock/herd of origin

– Write down old number and new number

• Registration tag– Replace with a tag with

the same number

[TSE] Scrapie• Disease of sheep and goats.• Affects central nervous system.• Animals over 18 months of age Always fatal.• Member of a family of diseases called

transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSEs).

• Other TSEs– Mad cow disease– Chronic wasting disease– Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s disease

How does a sheep or goat get scrapie?

• Direct contact with an infected sheep or goat.

→Direct contact with infected placenta.

• Environmental contamination (?)

Can all sheep and goats get scrapie?• Affects mostly blackface

and speckled-faced sheep.• Few cases in goats in U.S.

• A sheep’s genetics determines if it will get scrapie if it is exposed.– R gene - resistance– Q gene - susceptibility

• They are still looking for resistant genotypes in goats.

-- MANDATORY --Tagging requirement for scrapie program

• Tag all sheep and goats when they leave your property.– Sell to neighbor– Go to weigh-in and tagging– Go to fair– Go to sale barn

• Tag should be applied at the farm where the goat or sheep was born.

Premise ID

Individual animal ID

Why? To trace back infected animals to their farm of origin and find other animals

that might have been exposed.

Tattoo instead of ear tag

• A flock ID and individual animal number can take the place of an ear tag.

• A registration tattoo may also take the place of a tattoo if the animal accompanied by its registration paper.

What if . . . ?

• The sheep or goat you buy doesn’t have a scrapie tag?– The seller is required to tag the

animal.– If the seller doesn’t provide a tag,

tag the animal with another scrapie tag and record the seller’s name and address so you can prove the animal wasn’t born on your farm.

• The sheep or goat loses its scrapie tag?– Put in another tag and record both

tag numbers (lost and new).

How to get FREE scrapie tags

• Contact John T. Swann at (410) 349-9708 or John.C.Swann@aphis.usda.gov.

• He will assign a Flock ID and order your free ear tags and pliers to apply them.

Thank you for your attention.

Questions?