Domestic Sheep and Wool Production

This four legged woolly ruminant is most likely a descendant from the wild moufflon, which comes from southwest and south-central Asia.

There are a variety of terms used to refer to sheep, very young sheep are known as lambs, yearlings are known as hogglets, female sheep are known as ewes, male sheep that have not been castrated are known as rams, while castrated males are known as wethers. While you will sometimes hear a group of sheep referred to as a herd they are more properly called a flock or a mob. The adjective used when referring to sheep is ovine.

There is a wide variety of breeds of sheep. These different breeds are distinguished by wool class and hair class. Different breeds have been developed by farmers in order to gain excellent wool quality and quantity. Some factors that farmers look for are the fineness of the fibers, wool staple length, and degree of crimp in the fiber. Rambouillet, Merino, and Lincoln are some of the most well known breed of sheep.

When farmers are raising sheep for both meat and wool, they also take into consideration multiple births, fast growth, ease of births, and hardiness when developing breeds. Some of the more common breeds of meat sheep include Dorset, Suffolk, Hampshire, Columbia, and Texel.

The Corriedale is another dual-use breed of sheep. Some breeds of sheep are used equally for both meat and wool. These breeds are often cross-bred to get the maximum results for both purposes, for example Merino ewes can be bred with Suffolk rams to get lambs which are hardy and well suited for the meat market. One sheep that has a reputation for multiple births is the Finnish Landrace sheep.

One class of sheep that were developed for meat and leather are the hair class sheep, which are the original class of sheep. These hair sheep are typically resistant to disease and parasites, and produce a large amount of lambs. There are some sheep which are a mixture of hair and wool class sheep, for example the composite bred Dorpers and Kahtahdins. True hair sheep shed their coat in the spring and summer so they have just a short layer of hair. Examples of these breeds include Santa Inez, St. Croix, Mouflon, Blackbellie Barbado, and Royal White. These breeds are increasing in popularity because they do not require shearing in warmer weather.

Romney sheep (More)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Genus: Ovis
Species: O. aries

Binomial name
Ovis aries
Linnaeus, 1758

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