Sheep
Sheep are domesticated mammals belonging to the species Ovis aries, part of the Bovidae family. They are found on every continent except Antarctica and have adapted to diverse habitats, from mountainous regions to deserts. Domesticated over 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, sheep have played a significant role in agriculture, serving primarily as sources of meat (lamb and mutton) and wool. They exhibit a variety of breeds, which differ in size, horn presence, and wool characteristics; some are wool-bearing while others are hair sheep, raised for meat or hides.
Sheep are ruminants, equipped with a four-compartment stomach, enabling them to efficiently digest their varied plant-based diet. Their unique anatomy includes a narrow muzzle and flexible lips, allowing selective grazing. With a lifespan of 10 to 20 years, sheep typically breed in autumn or winter, with a gestation period of about five months. They are social animals, often following a leader for safety, and can be susceptible to predators such as coyotes and wolves. Overall, sheep are not endangered and continue to be a vital resource in agriculture globally.
Subject Terms
Sheep
Sheep Facts
Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus and species: Ovis aries (domestic sheep)
Geographical location: Every continent except Antarctica
Habitat: Land, including mountainous regions, desert and dry land, forested areas, tropics
Gestational period: Approximately five months, depending on the breed
Life span: Between ten and twenty years
Special anatomy: Narrow muzzle divided by a center cleft; very flexible lips, which allow them to graze close to the ground and to be very selective as to the plants and food eaten; wool
Sheep are estimated to have evolved over two million years ago. They were the first agricultural animals to be domesticated about twelve thousand years ago, just after the end of the last Ice Age. It is estimated that sheep domestication occurred in the Middle East, with the nomadic people that lived near current Iran and Iraq. The sheep herding practice spread west to the Mediterranean Sea area to Africa and Spain. By 4000 Before the Common Era, sheep could be found in Northern Europe, India, and China. The domesticated sheep evolved from either the European mouflon or the Asiatic mouflon, which can still be found in the wild. These sheep were very large compared to sheep in the twenty-first century, and they weighed about the same as some breeds of cattle. They had huge, curved horns, and thick woolen coats covered with long guard hairs that helped repel water and snow. Modern sheep resemble the sheep of old, but they only weigh about one-third as much. The shepherds strove to improve their flocks and culled out the sheep that did not improve the breeding.
In general, sheep are classified as either carcass animals, developed for meat consumption, or fiber animals, which were used primarily for wool clothing. If a sheep is used for food consumption and is under one year of age, its meat is called lamb, but if it is a year old or older, it is called mutton.
Description
Sheep come in all shapes and sizes, with different variations. Many have large and curved horns, and others are polled and have no horns at all. Depending on the breed, some sheep have horns in the male, whereas the female has none; in other breeds, both sexes have horns. Some sheep are covered with wool and need to be sheared regularly; others have no wool and are hair sheep, raised for meat or hides. Most hair sheep were developed in the tropics and are relatively immune to parasites. Sheep are excellent grazers and prefer a varied diet of green, soft plants of almost every description. Sheep prefer to eat as they walk up hills rather than grazing when walking down. They can be very selective in choosing what they eat, as their mouths are flexible due to a cleft in their lips that serves them like fingers. Sheep are agile and can move very quickly on cloven hooves. Sheep are ruminants and have a four-compartment stomach that allows them to regurgitate the herbage they have eaten and then chew the cud. Sheep do not have teeth on the upper front of the jaw but have a hard pad, where food is pressed between the pad on top and the teeth on the bottom. The sheep uses a jerking, upward motion to pull up its food, then swallows it.
Most sheep have wool as an outer cover, although several of the more primitive breeds are covered by hair. The color white is the most dominant of colors, but other colors and spots are present in several breeds. A sheep’s skin is thin, less than 0.1 inches thick. The skin also has sweat glands, which are missing in most other domesticated animals. The number of fibers that grow out of a sheep's skin varies from breed to breed. The carcass-bred sheep have the least, whereas the fine-wool sheep have the most. The fiber number can be as low as 4,500 follicles to as much as 80,000 follicles per square inch.
Sheep Life
Sheep have a lifespan of between ten and twenty years. The ram is able to reproduce earlier than the ewe and can be put into service before the female can. Males can become sexually reproductive between four and six months of age, and females can produce offspring between six and eight months, Sheep tend to breed during the late autumn or early winter, although some breeds mate year-round. The gestation period for an ewe is five months.
When the lambs are born, the average weight is about nine pounds, about the same size as the average domestic cat. Most are single births, but twins are frequently born. Lambs nurse for about eight weeks.
Sheep are followers, and they will follow a leader in groups. At the first sign of danger, they run. Coyotes, domestic dogs, bobcats, eagles, bears, and wolves are just a few of the sheep’s natural predators. They would rather live in completely dry conditions, and they do not do well where it is moist and muddy, even though they have cloven feet. Sheep also have the ability to do without water for extended periods of time but prefer to have it available. Sheep are not considered a threatened or endangered species.
Principal Terms
Blood System: grading for fleece, as in fine, low, and braid
Clip: the fleece that is removed from a single sheep
Ewe: female sheep
Fleece: wool fiber, which comes in various colors
Flock: a group of sheep
Lamb: baby sheep, either ram or ewe, under one year of age
Ram: male sheep, also called a buck
Wool: outer covering of sheep, similar to hair but with a crimp
Bibliography
Briggs, Hilton M., and Dinus M. Briggs. Modern Breeds of Livestock. 4th ed., New York: Macmillan, 1980.
“Domestic Sheep - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio.” Animalia Bio, animalia.bio/domestic-sheep. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
“Kinds of Sheep.” Sheep 101, 2021, www.sheep101.info/sheeptypes.html. Accessed 11 July 2023.
Parker, Ron. The Sheep Book. Reprint. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2001.
Reavill, Chris. “ADW: Ovis Aries: Information.” Animal Diversity Web, 2000, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ovis‗aries. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Ross, C. V. Sheep Production and Management. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989.
Simmons, Paula. Raising Sheep the Modern Way. Rev. ed. Pownal, Vt.: Storey, 1989.