Sheep Terms

Sheep Facts

Sheep usually give birth once a year and have 1-3 lambs. Ewes typically give birth to twins.

Sheep grow two teeth a year until they have eight. One sheep produces eight to ten pounds of wool per

year, enough to make a man's suit. One pound of wool can make ten miles of yarn.

Sheep are the only source of lanolin - grease that comes from wool before it has been washed. Lanolin is used in lotions and cosmetics.

The small intestines from 11 sheep are needed to make one tennis racket.

Banding

The method of putting a rubber band on the tail or scrotum to castrate or to dock.

Bloat

Term used to describe a secure distention of the abdomen by gas.

Buck

Term that is used as slang for ram.

Carding

The preparation of fibers to prepare them for spinning.

Castrate

Removing of the testicles of a male animal.

Dam

The female parent.

Dock

The process of removing or shorting the tail of a animal.

Ewe

A female sheep of any age.

Fleece

The wool from a sheep.

Graft

The process of taking a lamb and putting it with a ewe that is not its natural mother.

Lamb

A young sheep of either sex.

Mutton

The meat from a sheep older than one year of age.

Pelt

The skin of an animal with the hair attached.

Ram

Uncastrated male sheep.

Scours

Bacterial infection in animals that result in diarrhea.

Scrapie

A disease in sheep and goats that shuts down the central nervous system which causes the animal to scratch and become unaware.

Scurs

Small horns that are just breaking through the skin.

Shear

The cutting of sheep's wool.

Wether

A castrated male sheep.

Yearling

A sheep animal approximately one year of age.