Facts about Sheep
China has about 170 million sheep, most of which are raised for meat.
In wild sheep, both rams and ewes have horns, with the rams' horns being much larger.
Wool is generally a creamy white color, although some breeds of sheep produce natural colors such as black, brown (also called moorit), and gray.
The argali sheep has 56 chromosomes and the Siberian snow sheep has 52 chromosomes.
The dall sheep has been known to butt wolves off the face of cliffs (Voelker 1986).
Domestic sheep are important for their wool, milk, and meat (which is called mutton or lamb).
Male sheep are called rams, females are called ewes, and the young are called lambs.
Sheep are mentioned symbolically in the Bible many times; perhaps most famously in Psalm 23, which begins "The Lord is my shepherd."
Sheep hides with the fleece still attached are an important item and are used for coats, boots, rugs, and other products.
Sheep are usually stockier than other bovines and some have horns that are more divergent than those of goats.
Ewes began to be milked and the fleece that sheep shed each spring was gathered and spun into yarn to make clothing.
The adjective applying to sheep is ovine and the collective terms for sheep are flock and mob.
When detecting predators, wild sheep most often flee, usually uphill to higher ground.
An important factor in their domestication seems to be that sheep started to relate to humans as their flock leaders.
The urial has a higher number of chromosomes (58) than the domestic sheep (54), making it an unlikely ancestor, although it interbreeds with the mouflon.
Shepherds would select the sheep with the most desirable characteristics to give each year's new lambs and sheep slowly changed under domestication.
Flocks of sheep need to keep moving to find new grazing areas and more favorable climate as the seasons change.
The domestic sheep is thought to be descended from the wild mouflon of central and southwest Asia (the Asiatic mouflon, O. orientalis).
One group of sheep species consists of the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and dall sheep (O. dalli) of western North America and the closely related snow sheep (O. nivicola) of Siberia.
Well-known sheep milk cheeses include the Roquefort of France, the Brocciu of Corsica, the Pecorino of Italy, and the Feta cheese of Greece.
DNA analysis suggests there are two ancestral sources for the genetic makeup of domestic sheep, but a second subspecies contributor has not been identified.
A sheep is an individual of any of the woolly mammal species that comprise the genus Ovis.
Wool straight off a sheep has a high level of grease, which contains valuable lanolin, as well as dirt, dead skin, sweat residue, and vegetable matter.
Large numbers of sheep are also found in other Asian countries, Europe, Africa, and South America (Miller 1998).
The process of domestication of sheep seems to have started about 10,000 years ago in southwestern Asia, with some evidence for domestication dating to 9000 B.C.E.
Historically, in some breeds of sheep, the fleece was not shed in spring, but grew year-round and was cut off, or shorn, usually once a year in the spring; producing the material wool.
Australia, with about 100 million, and New Zealand, with about 50 million (much more than their human population), dominate the world export trade in sheep products.
Hair class sheep resemble the original domesticated breeds and are useful for meat and leather.
All sheep are even-toed ungulates (hoofed mammals) and members of the bovid family ( Bovidae), along with goats, antelopes, bison, buffalo, and cattle.
In wild sheep, both rams and ewes have horns, with the rams' horns being much larger.
Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) were one of the first animal species domesticated by humans and have had an important role in human life for thousands of years.
The three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, developed in the sheepherding areas of the Middle East and sheep and sheepherding play important parts in all three.
Breeds of meat sheep include Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Columbia, and Texel.
Wool is the fiber derived from the fur of animals of the Caprinae subfamily, which includes sheep and goats.
Sheep are multi-purpose animals, raised for their meat, milk, wool, hides, and skins. While they have been used to control unwanted vegetation for centuries, grazing as a fee-based service is a relatively new opportunity for US sheep producers.
Domestic sheep originated from the Mouflon, Urial and Argali. Two wild mouflon populations still exist: the Asiatic mouflon ( living in the mountains of Asia Minor and southern Iran) and the European mouflon (living on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica). Sheep were domesticated by humans around 10,000 BC.
The most important product we get from sheep is meat. Meat is an important component of our diets, and lamb and mutton supply us with many of the vital vitamins and proteins we need for healthy living. Lamb is the meat (flesh) from a sheep that is less than one year old.Sep 21, 2015
It is the sheep's flocking instinct that allows sheep herders to look after large numbers of sheep and lambs. Sheep are prey animals. It is flocking together in large groups that protect sheep from predators because predators will go after the outliers in the flock. Sheep have excellent senses.
Any breed of sheep can be kept as a pet. ... Pet sheep should should be females (ewes) or neutered males (wethers). They should not have horns. Hair sheep are a good choice because they will not require shearing.Sep 21, 2015
Sheep do sleep, either standing up or lying down. As they are animals that others like to eat, they sleep lightly by taking short naps rather than one big sleep. When they suffer insomnia, they count people.Sep 20, 2008
Mostly sheep eat grass, clover, forbs, and other pasture plants. They especially love forbs. In fact, it is usually their first choice of food in a pasture. A forb is a broad-leaf plant other than grass.Sep 21, 2015
This is why at night you will often hear ewes and lambs baaing and bleating to each other, so that they can pair up. This is why they make such a lot of noise at night time. Some sheep are lucky enough to lamb outside without the close monitoring of the farmer.
Sheep depend heavily on their vision. They have excellent peripheral vision and can see behind themselves without turning their heads. However, they have poor depth perception. They cannot see immediately in front of their noses.Sep 21, 2015
Sheep have been known to cry out for their lost friends and family in a desperate attempt to understand why they are no longer here.Apr 17, 2014