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Wear of permanent incisors with age on commercial A ustralian A ngora goat farms
Author(s) -
McGregor BA,
Butler KL
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/avj.12280
Subject(s) - incisor , tooth wear , mandibular incisor , flock , zoology , dentistry , orthodontics , medicine , biology , veterinary medicine
Objective To quantify if, and to what extent, permanent incisor wear differed with age of goat and farm of origin on commercial A ustralian A ngora goat farms. Design Observations were made on three A ngora goat farms in the wheat–sheep zone of V ictoria, each managed according to the farmer's practices. Farmers provided a representative flock of does. Methods The proportion and pattern of wear of permanent incisors were recorded and percentage wear calculated. After log(y + 10) transformation, a parsimonious general linear model was developed to relate wear to farm and age, with age considered as a continuous variate. Results The range in wear of the permanent incisors was 0–100%. For each farm, the most parsimonious model for permanent first incisor wear and average wear of all permanent incisors was a separate straight line relating the transformed incisor wear to the age of doe. The models accounted for 66–73% of variance. On each farm the incisor wear was similar and low for ages up to approximately 4 years. On all farms, the amount of incisor wear increased dramatically with age, although the rate of increase differed with each farm. Conclusions Permanent incisor wear increased with age of goat and differed with farm of origin. A ngora goat farmers need to be aware of the potential for incisor wear to affect doe production and health.