Sheep have a split in their upper lip, with this they are able to pick the preferred leaves off the plant. Sheep are very selective in their grazing habits. Sheep spend about a third of their life ruminating and need peace and quiet. They have a four-chambered stomach, using the first chamber to store quickly ingested food (cud) which they then bring back into their mouths to chew again before fully digesting it.
At this point they will have all their teeth. They will be replaced by larger and wider permanent incisors between 12 months and 4 years of age. Lambs have 8 temporary incisors that erupt at approximately 2 months of age. They can identify their mother by her bleat. Lambs form strong bonds with their mothers. They normally live to be about 8 years old, but can sometimes live to be as old as 20. Sheep usually give birth once a year and have 1-3 lambs. They prefer to move into the wind and uphill than down wind and downhill. Sheep don't like to walk in water or move through narrow openings. The flight distance depends on the situation and on the tameness or wildness of the sheep. Sheep have a flight zone, which is the space they like to keep between themselves and others. Sheep will consider the dog as a predator, flock together for protection and move away from the danger. For this reason, shepherds are able to use dogs to move sheep around. Their only means of survival is to flock together in large numbers and to run away from predators. Sheep are timid, nervous and easily frightened animals and for the most part defenseless against predators like coyotes and wild dogs. Some breeds of sheep are more gregarious than others and there are also some solitary breeds. Sheep are social animals, but the most important reason they like to flock together is for protection. Gregarious means that they flock together or like to be with a group. Precocial means that they have a high degree of independence at birth. Some breeds only have hair, some wool and some both.įemale sheep are called ewes, baby sheep are called lambs, and male sheep are called rams. Selection for economically important traits like wool type, has resulted in more than 200 distinct breeds of sheep. The tails of wild sheep had less vertebrates or bones than the sheep do now. The horns that the wild sheep possessed were weakened and disappeared from many breeds. Their ears became more of a lop ear than an erect ear. The color of the wool and hair changed from brown and shades to whites and black.
They began to develop more wool and less hair. As sheep were raised under tamed conditions, they went through several changes. They were among the first animals domesticated. Sheep were domesticated by humans around 10,000 BC. 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). Domestic sheep originated from the Mouflon, Urial and Argali. Sheep originated from wild sheep which include the Mouflon (Europe and Western Asia), the Urial (Asia), the Argali (Asia) and the Bighorn (Asia and North America).
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