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The age of cattle is determined chiefly by examination of the
teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...
, and less perfectly by the horn rings or the length of the tail brush; due to bang-tailing, which is the act of cutting the long hairs at the tip of the tail short to identify the animal after management practices, the last method is the least reliable.


Teeth method

Cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
are placed in a
cattle crush A cattle crush (in UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Botswana and Australia), squeeze chute (North America), cattle chute (North America), standing stock, or simply stock (North America, Ireland) is a strongly built stall or cage for holding cattle, ...
in order to restrain them prior inspecting the mouth and amount of teeth that each animal has. The temporary teeth are in part erupted at birth, and all the
incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...
s are erupted in twenty days; the first, second and third pairs of temporary
molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...
are erupted in thirty days; the teeth have grown large enough to touch each other by the sixth month. Temporary incisors or "milk" teeth are smaller than the permanent incisors. Cattle have thirty-two teeth, including six incisors or biting teeth and two canines in the front on the bottom jaw. The canine teeth are not pointed but look like incisors. The incisor teeth meet with the thick hard dental pad of the upper jaw. Cattle have six premolars and six molars on both top and bottom jaws for a total of twenty-four molars. The teeth of cattle are suited primarily for grinding, and they use their rough tongues to grasp grass and then nip it off between their incisors and the dental pad. There is controversy on the reliability of attempting to tell the age of cattle by their teeth, as rate of wear can be affected by the forage that is grazed.
Drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
or grazing on sandy country will also affect rate of wear. The following is a guide: * 12 months – All the calf teeth are in place. * 15 months – Centre permanent
incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...
s appear. * 18 months – Centre permanent incisors showing some wear. * 24 months – First intermediates up. * 30 months – Six broad incisors up. * 36 months – Six broad incisors showing wear. * 39 months – Corner teeth up * 42 months – Eight broad incisors showing wear. The development is quite complete at from five to six years. At that time the border of the incisors has been worn away a little below the level of the grinders. At six years, the first grinders are beginning to wear, and are on a level with the incisors. At eight years, the wear of the first grinders is very apparent. At ten or eleven years, used surfaces of the teeth begin to bear a square mark surrounded by a white line, and this is pronounced on all the teeth by the twelfth year; between the twelfth and the fourteenth year this mark takes a round form. The Household Cyclopedia of General Information, 1881 It is a requirement in some locations that prime cattle have a dentition indication mark on them prior to auction. This is normally done by the vendor, or the stock agent. Fat cattle auctions in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia identify the amount of teeth that prime animals have in the form of sprayed marks along the back. Thus two tooth cattle are marked on the wither, four tooth on the middle of the back and six tooth on their high bone (near tail). Milk and eight tooth cattle are not marked.


Horn method

The rings on the horns are less useful as guides. At ten or twelve months the first ring appears; at twenty months to two years the second; at thirty to thirty-two months the third ring, at forty to forty-six months the fourth ring, at fifty four to sixty months the fifth ring, and so on. But, at the fifth year, the three first rings are indistinguishable, and at the eighth year all the rings.


Tail brush method

The brush of the tail is only useful as a guide when assessing small, stunted or young cattle. A brush that is about
fetlock Fetlock is the common name in horses, large animals, and sometimes dogs for the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints (MCPJ and MTPJ). Although it somewhat resembles the human ankle in appearance, the joint is homologous to the ba ...
length or longer is an indication that the beast is twelve months old or older. This method cannot be used on cattle which have been bang-tailed. Bang tailing is the act of cutting the long hairs at the tip of the tail short to act as a simple identifier of animals and is commonly used after a procedure has been performed on an individual animal that belongs to a large mob e.g. the mob is run through a race and each animal is vaccinated – immediately after being vaccinated the animal is bang-tailed so they are identified as vaccinated and will not be given a second dose of vaccine. This is useful when large numbers of animals are being processed by a group of individuals.


Other methods

Cattle age in a
carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...
is determined checking the physiological skeletal maturity (ossification) (red) of the tips or "buttons" of the
thoracic vertebrae In vertebrates, thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. In humans, there are twelve thoracic vertebrae and they are intermediate in size between the cervical ...
. The size and shape of the rib bones are important considerations as well as the colour and texture of the flesh. The use of number (year) branding,
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
s or ear tags with numbers or different colours are good methods of identifying the age of cattle, if they are used according to standards.


References


External links


Age Determination in Beef Cattle

Determining the Age of Cattle by Their Teeth


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattle Age Determination Cattle Teeth Senescence in non-human organisms