Sheep (Ovis aries) are a herd animal belonging to the
Artiodactyla order. They have four chambered stomachs and kept in
domestication. There are over a billion domestic sheep on the planet in all
four corners of the globe. Sheep are a large source of wool and meat (mutton
and lamb) for humans. In some regions, sheep's milk is a diet staple.
A female sheep is a ewe, a male sheep is a ram and an infant
sheep is called a lamb. Because sheep
herding is an ancient practice it has many custom associated with it including
regional terms, shearing methods and the training of sheep dogs. Sheep
husbandry is widely practiced in the United
Kingdom, New
Zealand and South America.
Sheep have no canine teeth and bite their lower teeth
against a gum pad on the upper jaw making them ideal for eating grass and
shrubs. They have excellent hearing and vision and can see what is happening
behind them due to their slit shaped pupils. Sheep vary widely in color and
some sub species have horns and other do not.
Herbivores or plant eaters by nature, sheep enjoy munching
on a variety of plants, stems, seeds and nuts. Their quad chambered stomachs
allow them to break the cellulose in the plant material into carbohydrates
necessary for energy. Sheep also spend a large portion of the day chewing on
cud which is material regurgitated from the stomach and further chewed to aid
digestion.
In the animal hierarchy sheep are the victims rather than
the predator and stay close together as a defensive mechanism. Their main
priorities are grazing for food and staying close to the herd. Sheep remain
essential to the global agriculturally economy with lives intimately connected
to humanity.