Grazed Fodder beet and ewes teeth

Mouthed older ewes this week, mostly NC mules, found lots with badly worn down teeth and many of them only 2015 born. Could this be from grazing fodder beet in situ ? Anyone have any thoughts or experiences.
 

easyram1

Member
Location
North Shropshire
Mouthed older ewes this week, mostly NC mules, found lots with badly worn down teeth and many of them only 2015 born. Could this be from grazing fodder beet in situ ? Anyone have any thoughts or experiences.
we have grazed fodder beet for last 7 years with our in lamb ewes. Like Neilo I may have other issues with fodder beet but certainly no problems with teeth. Have 7-8 year old ewes here and teeth are fine. We do use lower dry matter varieties like Lactimo that grow well out of the ground.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I culled a few with worn down teeth in the last few weeks, but they were 7-9 yrs old. Last year I would have happily let them run another year, but the memory of last year’s harsh winter is still fresh, so being harder on them.

I’ve not noticed any additional problems with ewe’s teeth from grazing (medium DM) beet, compared to wintering on any other roots. Are low/medium DM varieties much harder than turnips or swedes? I would think they’d be slightly softer than swedes tbh, certainly later in the winter.
 
Thanks for all the replies. No real conclusion reached unfortunately other than something needs to change. Not sustainable to buy mule Shearlings at £120 + and only get 4 crops.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Thanks for all the replies. No real conclusion reached unfortunately other than something needs to change. Not sustainable to buy mule Shearlings at £120 + and only get 4 crops.

Probably going to get lambasted by all the mule & BFL fans on here, but losing teeth prematurely seems to be a common tale, with plenty seeing it without grazing beet/root crops. Given the similar reports on Aberfields, it would point to it being a problem with the BFL part of the mix.
 
Probably going to get lambasted by all the mule & BFL fans on here, but losing teeth prematurely seems to be a common tale, with plenty seeing it without grazing beet/root crops. Given the similar reports on Aberfields, it would point to it being a problem with the BFL part of the mix.

There's an irony, have started breeding my own replacements using an Aberfield (SR) hopefully at least when they are culled ,there value will be closer to what they stand me in at than mules usually are.
 

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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