We do not have any sheep here at Maranatha Farm but have had them in the past. Sheep are kept for their wool, meat, and milk. People cut the wool, special kind of hair that many kinds of sheep have, off to make yarn for making warm sweaters, mittens, and hats. Sheep have a special oil in their wool called lanolin which is used to make hand creams that help keep your skin nice and soft. Sheep that do not have wool are called hair sheep and they are mainly kept for meat. Milk from sheep is made into cheese and yogurt.
Sheep, like goats and cows, are ruminants. They chew their cud. They eat grass, broad leafed weeds, hay, and grain.
Mother Sheep:
Mother sheep are called ewes (pronounced yous). They usually have two babies at a time like goats. They make special milk for their babies too to help protect them from getting sick.
Father Sheep:
Father sheep are called rams. When they fight they run and ram into each other head first. They can be mean too just like other father farm animals and will try to knock people over if they go in the field with them.
Baby Sheep:
Baby sheep are called lambs. They are very pretty to see and make nice pets just like baby goat kids. You can feed them with a bottle. Lambs are born with long tails but many farmers cut them off when they are little to keep flies from getting into the wool that can get soiled around the tail area. If flies get into the messy wool they will lay eggs and then the lamb can get very sick and die form the little baby fly maggots that will grow there. So, though it may sound mean to cut off the tails, it is really for the protection of the little lambs and does not hurt them very much when it is done when they are very little.