What is a sheep?
The name "sheep" applies to many species, but in everyday usage it generally refers to the domestic sheep, no matter if it's a male or a female. Sheep is usually over one year of age and it has usually produced offspring. Domestic sheep are ruminant mammals like goats, deer, antelopes, giraffes, camels and, of course, also cows and oxen.

What is the difference between a ewe and a ram?
A ewe is a mature female sheep. A ram or buck is the name of the mature male sheep.

And what is a lamb?
A lamb is a baby sheep or one less than one year of age. Lamb is also the term for the flesh of a young domestic sheep eaten as food.

How do sheep look like?
Sheep are small quadruped mammals with a thick woolly coat and a tail. They usually have curled horns.

Do sheep always have horns?
Well, sheep can have horns or not, depending upon their breed and sex. Some sheep breeds have horns on both rams and ewes. Some have horns on only the rams. When both sexes have horns, rams have larger and more striking horns than ewes! And some sheep are naturally hornless! Sheep horns tend to curl and spiral.

Sheep, are they grazers or browsers?
Sheep are grazers, preferring to eat short, tender grass and clover. They like weeds and can graze very close to the soil surface. Browsers are animals like sheep and goats that eat highly nutritious twigs and shrubs.

What is a bleat?
It is the weak or wavering cry of a sheep (or goat)! It is the sheep's voice.

What is a shepherd?
It is the person who looks after sheep.

Are sheep useful to farmers and shepherds?
Yes! Domestic sheep are farmed mainly for their wool and meat, but also as dairy animals for producing delicious cheese. A sheep's wool is typically harvested by shearing. And you may believe me, cutting a sheep's wool off with scissors or shears is not an easy task! Sheep's horns can be made into knife handles, spoons, hair combs, and horse bits. Lately, sheep are also used as model organisms for science. Do you remember Dolly?

What is a flock?
A flock is a group of sheep. Sheep become highly stressed when separated from their flock members.

And a flock behaviour?
It is a strong social instinct to be together and follow the leader. When one sheep goes somewhere, the rest of the flock usually follows, even if it is not a good decision. For example, if the leading sheep jumps over a cliff, the others are likely to follow. Lambs are conditioned from birth to follow the older members of the flock, and when young lambs sleep, they will seek out their mothers and lie close to them.

Are sheep an easy prey?
Yes, they have many predators. And as they have very little ability to defend themselves compared with other livestock, sheep developed a strong flock behaviour that provides their best defence against predators, though this behaviour varies with breed. Shepherds exploit this behaviour to keep large numbers of sheep and lambs together and may use dogs in this effort.

What are sheepdogs?
Dogs with high herding ability are called sheepdogs, like the famous "German Shepherd" or the remarkable Portuguese breeds "Serra da Estrela" or "Serra d'Aires".

What is rutting?
It is the annual period of sexual activity in sheep and other mammals like deer. Since only the dominant ram gets to breed the ewes, rams must fight to determine this privilege. They fight with their horns and this is called butting. No matter how friendly a ram is, you should never trust it and turn your back on it. Rams can cause serious injury to people and other animals.

What is the ancestor of the domestic sheep?
Sheep most likely descend from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia and became domesticated through thousands of generations of human contact.

Where does the expression "black sheep" come from and what does it mean?
Well, to call someone "black sheep" means that (s)he is regarded as someone we don't like. This saying comes from an occasional black lamb being born to an entirely white flock. This black sheep is considered undesirable by shepherds, as black wool is not as commercially viable as white wool.

Sheep, Animal Farm, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, UK	Sheep, Parque Merveilleux Bettembourg, Luxembourg