Dental judges, how old was this cow?

[ohiosteve]

I was cleaning up this skull today and wondering how old this cow actually was when we butchered her. According to my buddies Grandpa whom I bought the cow from she should have been 10 or 11 at the time she was butchered a couple years ago, but he bought the cow from someone else so it was a guess on his part. I thought she seemed younger than that and looking at her teeth got me wondering. What do y'all think. I understand it might be harder to judge from a skull than a live cow. Thanks.

 

[kenny thomas]

No different on a live cow than a dead one. But the front teeth or lack of is what matters.
Oh, and on the bottom jaw not the top.

 

[ohiosteve]

That makes sense. I'm afraid the lower jaw is long gone.

 

[Bigfoot]

The fronts are all I've ever looked at. Even at that, I doubt I'm very accurate. I've seen the same cow be aged by different vets 6 months apart, and be 5 years different in what they call it.

 

[ohiosteve]

I do remember thinking her fronts looked pretty long to me. I actually remember taking a picture I was going to post on here but never did. I will look for it. It just seems to me like the rear teeth would be the tell-tale since they do all the grinding, but I guess they're a lot harder to inspect on a live cow.

 

[ohiosteve]

I found the picture of her fronts. Gotta love computers. The date stamp on the picture is wrong, it was not 2007.

 

[Bigfoot]

Is age that cow at 9.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Maybe 10 to 12, I'm not very good though, been trying to learn more and get better at it.

 

[KNERSIE]

Grazing conditions play a huge role, in our conditions that cow would be 6 or 7

 

[Koffi Babone]

Using dentition to age cattle is accurate for the first 4.5 yrs approximately. As others have pointed out, beyond 5 years, external factors such teeth wear becomes very important and becomes mostly guess work.

So to remain accurate, from your last photo, she's older than 4.5 yrs. Sorry, I know this is not the answer you were looking for.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-ani ... 08_eng.jpg

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OFO/TSC/bse_information.htm

 

[kenny thomas]

Grazing conditions play a huge role, in our conditions that cow would be 6 or 7

I agree, after 5-6 year old it is almost all about the grazing. In Sky's area the sand wears them down fast. Short gras makes a lot of difference. I have not been doing it long enough to prove it but I think that rotational grazing should make the teeth last longer.