Sheep Farming Quick Facts

As you progress in sheep farming or any endeavor one thing you become more and more familiar with are the basic facts and the language or lingo.

The scientific name for sheep is Ovis aries.

Sheep are small ruminants so they fall into the category of animals with four stomachs.

A group of sheep (more than three) is called a flock At any point in time the flock may consist of the following:

• Ewe - female adults

• Ram - male adults, sometimes referred to as Bucks

• Ewe Lamb - young female offspring who has not birthed a lamb

• Ram Lamb - young intact (non-castrated) male offspring who has not been used for breeding

• Wether - castrated male

• Hogget - an animal producing the first fleece (has not been sheared for the first time yet)

Breeding Facts

The ewes gestation window is recorded to be from 142 to 155 days, averaging out around 147 days.

During breeding season the ewes estrus (heat) cycle occurs every 17 days and lasts 24 to 48 hours.

Some breeds of sheep will cycle outside of the typical breeding season window. These breeds will be sought for accelerated lambing programs.

A ewe has two teats on her udder.

It is common for a ewe to have 2 or 3 lambs. More than three lambs will only be realized with prolific breeds.

Assorted Sheep Farming Facts

Not all rams have horns.

In some breeds both rams and ewes have horns.

There are numerous polled breeds (breeds without horns).

Wool sheep are sheared annually.

An average wool clip from North American wool sheep will yield 7-8 pounds of wool.

Hair sheep shed naturally and are not sheared.

You can clarify the age of sheep by checking the teeth:

• On lambs up to one year of age there are 4 pair of baby incisors

• 1 year of age - middle pair of incisors will have come in

• 2 years of age - two pairs of incisors

• 3 years or age - three pairs

• 4 years of age - four pairs

Beyond four years it will be difficult to pinpoint the age, however after seven or eight years loss of some teeth may be evident.

Feed and Water

Sheep require a daily feed intake of 3% to 3.5% of their body weight.

Sheep require a daily water intake of up to 1.5 gallons per day (for lactating ewes, about 1 gallon per day for dry ewes).

One ewe = 0.2 Animal Units.

One ram = 0.26 Animal Units.

As a rule of thumb, sheep to cow ratio is 7:1

So seven mature ewes of medium size is said to be equivalent to one cow. This ratio will adjust if the sheep are quite small or are large.

Sheep Farming Lingo

Shearing - to clip the wool off of the body of a sheep.

Shed - an Australian term meaning a building for housing sheep. May or may not have four walls. Example covered pole sheds.

Race - no not as in to race against another although sheep moving through one often think so. In sheep farming a race is a long narrow alleyway in which sheep move forward in single file. Used when handling and sorting sheep.

Milling - a term to describe a large number of sheep, tightly grouped that begin to swirl in a circle rather than make forward progress.

Flushing - putting the ewes onto higher quality feed or adding supplemental feed to increase nutrition a couple weeks prior to breeding.

Crutch or crutching - shearing the area below the tail around the ewes vulva. Some producers elect to do this for cleanliness prior to breeding. If the ewes are crutched it is also easier to observe signs of the heat cycle.

Jugs - jugs are small pens set up in a barn for the purpose of lambing. Ewes about to birth will be ushered into a jug where she will remain with her newborn lambs for a few days.

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