Question 1

Basic information about sheep

Accepted Answer

How long do sheep usually live?The classification of organisms into groups based on similarities of origin, structure, etc.  is called taxonomy.  Sheep are closely-related to other farm livestock, especially goats.Taxonomy of sheepKingdomAnimaliaAnimalPhylumChordataNotochordSub phylumVertibrataBackbone ClassMammaliaMammal, milk for offspring	OrderUngulataHoofed 	Sub order ArtiodactylaEven toedFamilyBovidaeHollow hornsSub familyCaprinaesheep/goatsGenusOvissheepSpeciesAriesDomestic sheepEarly domestication
Domestication is when an organism is trained or adapted to live with people. Domestication often changes the appearance and behavior of the organism. While dogs were the first animal to be domesticated, sheep and goats are tied for second and are the first animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes. They were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Life expectancy
Life expectancy is how long an organism is expected to live. Typically, the life expectancy of an animal increases with size. For example, cows usually live longer than sheep. The life expectancy of sheep is similar to large breeds of dogs, about 10 to 12 years. Some breeds are known for being longer-lived, e.g. Merino. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest sheep lived to be 23. It was a Merino.However, the length of a sheep's productive lifetime tends to be much less. This is because a ewe's productivity usually peaks between 3 and 6 years of age and begins to decline after the age of 7. As a result, most ewes are removed from a flock before they would reach their natural life expectancy. It is also necessary to get rid of older ewes in order to make room for younger ones. The younger animals are usually genetically superior to the older ones.In harsh environments (e.g., where forage is sparse), ewes are usually culled at a younger age because once their teeth start to wear and break down, it becomes more difficult for them to maintain their body condition and consume enough forage to feed their babies. It is possible for a ewe to be productive past 10 years of age, if she is well-fed and managed and stays healthy and sound.Aging sheep
The approximate age of a sheep can be determined by examining their upper incisor teeth. At birth, lambs have eight baby (or milk) teeth or temporary incisors arranged on their lower jaw. They do not have any teeth on their top jaw, only a dental pad.At approximately one year of age, the central pair of baby teeth is replaced by a pair of permanent incisors. At age 2, the second pair is replaced by permanent incisors. At 3 and 4 years, the third and fourth pairs of baby teeth are replaced.At approximately four years of age, a sheep has a full mouth of teeth. As it ages past four, the incisor teeth will start to spread, wear, and eventually break. When a ewe has lost some of her teeth, she's called a "broken mouth" ewe. When she has lost all her teeth, she is called a "gummer."A sheep with no incisor teeth can still survive because it uses mostly its molars for chewing feed. However, it will have a harder time grazing, especially short vegetation.Cast sheep
A sheep that has rolled over onto its back is called a "cast" sheep. It may not be able to get up without assistance. This happens most commonly with short, stocky sheep with full fleeces on flat terrain. Heavily pregnant ewes are most prone. Cast sheep can become distressed and die within a short period of time if they are not rolled back into a normal position. When back on their feet, they may need supported for a few minutes to ensure they are steady. Vital signs
Vital signs are measures of various physiological statistics. A sheep's vital signs can help determine if it is sick or in distress.SignSheepLambRectal temperature, ° F102 to 103.5 102.5 to 104 Heart rate, beats per minute60 to 120120-160Respiratory rate, breaths per minute12 to 72 	30 to 70Ruminations, per minute1 to 2 1 to 2Packed cell volume, %24 to 4522 to 38

Question 2

Separating the sheep from the goats

Accepted Answer

What's the difference between sheep and goats?While sheep and goats have many similarities, their taxonomy (scientific classification) eventually diverges. Each is a distinct species and genus. Sheep (Ovis aries) have 54 chromosomes, while goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) have 60. While sheep and goats will occasionally mate, fertile sheep-goat hybrids are extremely rare. Hybrids made in the laboratory are called chimeras.

Just look at their tails

The easiest way to tell the difference between a sheep and goat is to look at their tails. A goat's tail goes up (unless it is sick, frightened, or in distress). Sheep tails hang down and are often docked (shortened) for health and hygienic reasons.

Foraging behavior

A big difference between sheep and goats is their foraging behavior and diet selection. Goats are browsers, preferring to eat leaves, twigs, vines, and shrubs. They are very agile and will stand on their hind legs to reach vegetation. Goats like to eat the tops of plants. Sheep are grazers, preferring to eat short, tender grasses and clover. Their dietary preference is for forbs (broadleaf weeds) and they like to graze close to the soil surface. Goats require and select a more nutritious diet. Sheep select a more nutritious diet than cattle.

Behavior

Sheep and goats usually exhibit different behaviors. Goats are naturally curious and independent, while sheep tend to be more distant and aloof. Sheep have a stronger flocking instinct and become more agitated if they are separated from the rest of the flock. It is easier to keep sheep inside a fence than goats. Sheep are easier to handle than goats. Goats will seek shelter more readily than sheep. Neither species likes to get its feet wet and both prefer upland grazing to lowland. Social dominanceDue to their more aggressive behavior, goats will usually dominate sheep, especially if the goats have horns and the sheep are polled (hornless). However, when young bucks and rams are maintained together, rams may dominate because the ram may preemptively strike the buck in the abdomen while the buck is still in the act of rearing up.

Physical differences

Sheep and goats have numerous physical differences. Most goats have hair coats that do not require shearing or combing. Most sheep grow woolly coats that need to be sheared at least annually. Lamb tails are usually docked (shortened) whereas goat tails are not.

Sheep have an upper lip that is divided by a distinct philtrum (groove). The goat does not. Male goats have glands beneath their tail. Sheep have face or tear glands beneath their eyes and foot or scent glands between the toes. Male goats develop a distinct odor as they grow in sexual maturity. The odor is very strong during the rut (mating season). Sexually mature rams have much less of an odor than male goats. The same is true of the meat from sexually mature males.

Horns

Most goats are naturally horned. Some goats have beards. Many breeds of sheep are naturally hornless (polled). Some sheep have manes. Goat horns are more narrow, upright, and less curved than sheep horns. Sheep tend to curl their horns in loops on the sides of their heads. Horn genetics differs between sheep and goats.Reproduction
There are a few differences in the reproductive systems of sheep and goats. The estrus (heat) cycle of the ewe averages 17 days while the doe's estrus cycle averages 21 days. Goats are much easier to artificially inseminate (AI) than sheep. There are several reasons why.
Ewes have a more complicated cervix which makes passage of an insemination rod very difficult. When artificially breeding ewes, frozen semen is usually delivered laparoscopically into the uterine horns. Sheep show few visible signs of estrus as compared to goats. A teaser ram is required to detect estrus or timed inseminations are done after hormonal manipulation.Though it varies by breed, goats tend to be less seasonal and more prolific than sheep. Male goats have an offensive odor during the mating season; rams do not. The mating rituals of the two species vary, with goats being more demonstrative in their behavior.Nutrition
Sheep and goats have similar nutrient requirements, though goats have higher maintenance requirements because they are not able to digest the cellulose of plant cell walls as well as sheep. Lambs tend to grow much faster than kids, no matter what the diet is. Sheep convert feed more efficiently. Grain-feeding is less likely to be profitable in goat (meat) production.With the exception of a few breeds, sheep and goats fatten very differently. Goats fatten from the inside-out. They deposit fat around their internal organs before depositing external fat over their back, ribs, and loin. Sheep deposit external fat before depositing internal fat. Finn sheep and hair sheep of tropical origins deposit fat around their organs similarly to goats.Both species require copper in their diets, but with sheep there is a narrow margin between what is required and what can be toxic. Toxic levels depend upon the level of other minerals in the diet. Breeds also vary in their sensitivity to excess copper.  For this reason, it is generally recommended that sheep not be fed products that have been formulated for other livestock (including goats), as these products likely have copper added to them.It can also be risky to graze sheep on pastures that have been fertilized with poultry or hog manure. Caution should be exercised when using any form of copper as a deworming agent. Copper oxide wire particles (COWP) are preferred to copper sulfate because they are a slow release, less absorbable form of copper. Additional copper should not be added to the diets of sheep unless a deficiency is confirmed by laboratory tests.Goats require more copper in their diets than sheep and are not as prone to copper toxicity. Their maximum level of copper is unknown, but considered to be similar to cattle. When co-mingled, sheep products should be fed. It may be necessary to give copper supplements to goats that are co-raised with sheep.Diseases
Sheep and goats are susceptible to the same diseases, including scrapie, which is transmitted via infected placenta to genetically-susceptible offspring. US law requires both species to carry official USDA identification when entering commerce or moving from their farm of origin.Sheep and goats are infected by the same internal worm parasites, but coccidia (Eimeria spp.) is host-specific. Both sheep and goats can serve as a abnormal host for the meningeal worm, a parasite of white tail deer.Goats tend to be more susceptible to worms than sheep, due to their origins (in a dry climate) and natural browsing behavior. They are slower to develop immunity (to parasites). Goats also metabolize dewormers more quickly and require higher doses of the drugs. The clostridial vaccines seem to be less effective in goats than sheep. Tissue reactions (to vaccinations) tend to be more common in goats than sheep. Fewer drugs are FDA-approved for use in goats.OPP (ovine progressive pneumonia) and CAE (caprine arthritic encephalitis), are similar diseases, caused by a slow lentivirus (like HIV), that affect sheep and goats, respectively. CAE is transmitted mostly via colostrum, whereas OPP is mostly the result of lateral transfer (animal to animal, usually mature females to replacement ewe lambs). Cross infection is possible. Because of the similarities, OPP and CAE have now been merged into one disease now called small ruminant lentivirus.

Question 3

A vocabulary test

Accepted Answer

Terminology you should know if you are going to raise sheep

Sheep
Sheep are over one year of age.  Adult or mature animals. They have usually produced offspring.

Lambs
Lambs are less than one year of age. Immature sheep. They have usually not produced offspring.

Ewe
A female sheep is called a ewe. Yoe is a slang term for ewe. Its origin is Scottish. A young female sheep is called a ewe lamb.

Lambing
The process of giving birth to lambs is called lambing. Another word for birthing is parturition. Another word for pregnancy is gestation.

Dam
Dam is the female parent (mother) of a lamb.  Fifty percent of an offspring's genetics are contributed by the dam.

Ram
A male sheep is called a ram. Buck is the slang term for ram. A young male is called a ram lamb. In parts of the United Kingdom, a ram is called a tup and the mating season is called tupping.

Sire
Sire  is the male parent (father) of a lamb.  Fifty percent of an offspring's genetics are contributed by the sire. Since rams usually mate with more than one ewe during a breeding season, their contribution of genetics to the flock is very large. It is often said that they are half of the flock.

Wether
A castrated male sheep is called a wether. Wethers are less aggressive than rams.

Lamb 
Lamb is also the term for the flesh of a young domestic sheep eaten as food

Mutton
The meat from a sheep that is older than 12 months is called mutton. Yearling mutton is the meat from a sheep between 1 and 2 years of age. Mutton has a stronger flavor than lamb.

Wool
The fiber that most sheep grow is called wool. The wool from one sheep is called a fleece. Many fleeces from the same farm, wool pool, region, or state are called a clip.

Shearing
Shearing is when the wool is cut off (or shaved) from the sheep. Shearing is not painful. Crutching is when wool is removed from the rear end of the sheep. It is often done for hygienic reasons.

Hair sheep
A hair sheep is a sheep that grows more hair than wool and does not require shearing. Some hair sheep have all hair; others grown a mixture of hair and wool that is naturally shed. Modern sheep breeds are derived from hair sheep.

Landrace (breed)
A breed that has developed more via natural selection than artificial.  Landrace breeds are usually highly adapted and exhibit considerable genetic diversity. Many rare and heritage breeds are considered landrace.

Yearling
A yearling is a sheep between 1 and 2 years of age that may or may not have produced offspring. In non-US countries, a yearling ewe is sometimes called a hogget, shearling, gimmer, or teg.

Bummer
A bummer (or bum lamb) is an orphan, often abandoned by its mother due to illness, weakness, or having too many siblings.  Poddy lamb is another term.

Flock
A group of sheep is called a flock. Larger groups of sheep are called bands or mobs.

Herd
Herd is a more general term for grazing animals.  Flock is more specific to sheep.

Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who cares for sheep. Sheep usually recognize and trust their shepherd. They recognize their voice.

Sheepherder
A sheepherder is a herder of sheep (on open range). It is someone who keeps the sheep together in a flock and watches after them. In the US, the sheepherder is not usually the owner of the sheep.

Drench (v or n)
Drenching is the process of giving sheep a liquid medicine or preparation by mouth. Dewormers are the most common medicine given to sheep.

Jug (n or v)
A jug is a small, temporary, individual pen for a ewe and her lambs for the first 1 to 3 days after birthing. Jugs facilitate bonding and help to prevent mismothering. They vary in size, but 5 ft. x 5 ft. is common.

Farm (n)
A farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food. It usually includes cultivated land for producing crops

Ranch
A ranch is a farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock. The term ranch more commonly applies to farms in the western US.

Abattoir
An abattoir is a building where animals are harvested for meat products. It comes from the French word, abattre, "to strike down."

Question 4

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Accepted Answer

Why don't most sheep have tails?Lambs are born with tails of varying lengths. The length of a lamb's tail is usually half-way between the length of its dam's tail and the length of its sire's tail. In fact, tail length is one of the most heritable traits in sheep. Up to 84 percent of the variation in sheep tail length is due to genetics.  The purpose of the sheep's tail is to protect the sheep's anus, vulva, and udder from weather extremes. Sheep lift their tails when they defecate and use their tails, to some extent, to scatter their feces.No tails!
Under modern sheep production systems, tails are usually docked (shortened) to prevent fecal matter from accumulating on the back side of the sheep, which can result in fly strike (wool maggots). Left untreated, fly strike can be fatal, as the maggots eat away at the sheep's flesh. Tail docking also makes it easier to shear the sheep and process them for meat. It keeps sheep cleaner. The tail does not interfere with breeding or lambing.There are different methods that can be used to dock the tails of lambs. The most common method is to put a rubber band (ring) around the tail. When this method is used, it is recommended that lambs be docked at a young age (1 to 7 days) to minimize the stress and pain experienced by the lamb. The dock (tail) should be left long enough to cover the ewe's vulva and ram's anus. Short tail docks may contribute to the incidence of rectal prolapses and other problems.While some animal activists claim that tail docking is an inhumane practice made necessary by modern production practices, this claim is untrue. When done properly, tail docking is not inhumane. While it causes some pain, it does not affect the health or growth of the lamb. In fact,  you can use rubber bands that are infused with lidocaine to reduce the pain felt by the lambs.Tail docking is done to protect the health and hygiene of sheep and lambs. Liquid feces (diarrhea) can occur in all production systems; thus, putting the sheep at risk for flystrike and other problems.  Producers who do not dock their wooled lambs need to have superior management to prevent the problems associated with tailed lambs. Hair sheep
It is usually not necessary to dock the tails of hair sheep breeds such as Katahdin, Blackbelly, Damara, St. Croix (Virgin Island White), Wiltshire Horn, Pelibüey, Santa Inês, St. Augustine, and Royal White®. Despite being classified as hair sheep, Dorper and American/Australian White lambs usually have their tails docked..    One of the unintended consequences of selecting sheep for wool growth was longer, thicker, woolier tails. Hair sheep tails are more similar to the ancestor of modern sheep, the Mouflon, which has a short, woolless tail.Rat-tailed sheep
Some wooled breeds have naturally short tails or thin, woolless tails that also do not require docking. These breeds are called Northern European short-tailed or "rat-tailed" sheep. They include Finnsheep, East Friesian, Shetland, Icelandic, Romanov, and Soay.  Because East Friesians are a dairy sheep, their tails are usually docked to create a more sanitary environment for milking.Fat-tailed sheepSome sheep have fat or broad rumps and/or tails. In fact, these kind of sheep comprise 25 percent of the world's sheep population. They are hardy and adaptable, able to survive the tough challenges of desert life and other extreme climatic conditions.It is not customary to dock their tails. In fact, their tail fat is considered a delicacy in some cultures. Sheep-tail fat is called "allyah" in Arabic. Historical religious text (Hadith) claims that sheep-tail fat is a "cure" for sciatica (lower back and leg pain caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve).  Tails from thin-tailed sheep are also eaten in some cultures. They are called skaapstertjies in South Africa.Fat tails are also a result of artificial selection, as some ancient cultures needed a source of fat for cooking; thus, selected sheep that could provide it.Naturally-docked sheep
Using the short-tail breeds (e.g. Finnsheep) as a foundation, scientists in Australia and New Zealand are trying to breed sheep with naturally short tails that do not require docking. Years ago, researchers in the US successfully bred "tail-less" sheep. Unfortunately, the tail-less trait was linked to a lethal gene, similar to the case with Manx cats.

Question 5

Follow the leader

Accepted Answer

Why do sheep follow each other to slaughter?

Wait for me

Sheep have a strong instinct to follow the sheep in front of them. When one sheep decides to go somewhere, the rest of the flock usually follows, even if it is not a good "decision." For example, sheep will follow each other to slaughter. If one sheep jumps over a cliff, the others are likely to follow. Even from birth, lambs are conditioned to follow the older members of the flock. This instinct is "hard-wired" into sheep. It's not something they "think" about.

Leadersheep

There is a certain strain of sheep in Iceland known as leadersheep. Leadersheep are highly intelligent animals that have the ability and instinct to lead a flock home during difficult conditions. They have an exceptional ability to sense danger. There are many stories in Iceland of leadersheep saving many lives during the fall roundups when blizzards threatened shepherds and flocks alike.

Safety in numbers

Sheep are gregarious. They will usually stay together in a group while grazing. In fact, a sheep will become highly agitated if it is separated from the group. It is the banding together in large groups which protects sheep from predators which will go after the outliers in the flock.

Social animals
Sheep are a very social animal. Animal behaviorists note that sheep require the presence of at least 4 or 5 sheep which when grazing together maintain a visual link to each other.

Flocking together

Flocking instinct is strongest in the fine wool breeds, but exists in all sheep breeds, to some extent. It is the sheep's flocking instinct that allows sheep herders to look after and move large numbers of sheep and lambs.

Question 6

Are sheep stupid?

Accepted Answer

Are sheep stupid?Due to their strong flocking instinct and failure to act independently of one another, sheep have been universally branded "stupid." But sheep are not stupid. Their only protection from predators is to band together and follow the sheep in front of them. If a predator is threatening the flock, this is not the time to act independently.  At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence that sheep may actually possess some smarts!I'll always remember ewe
A study of sheep psychology has found man's woolly friend can remember the faces of more than 50 other sheep for up to two years. They can even recognize a familiar human face. The hidden talents of sheep revealed by a study in the journal Nature suggest they may be nearly as good as people at distinguishing faces in a crowd.Researchers say, "Sheep form individual friendships with one another, which may last for a few weeks. It's possible they may think about a face even when it's not there." The researchers also found female sheep had a definite opinion about what made a ram's face attractive"A-mazing" sheep
According to researchers in Australia, sheep can learn and remember. Researchers have developed a complex maze test to measure intelligence and learning in sheep, similar to those used for rats and mice. Using the maze, researchers have concluded that sheep have excellent spatial memory and are able to learn and improve their performance. And they can retain this information for a six-week period.The maze uses the strong flocking instinct of sheep to motivate them to find their way through. The time it initially takes an animal to rejoin its flock indicates smartness, while subsequent improvement in times over consecutive days of testing measures learning and memory.Smarter than previously thought
Scientists at the University of Cambridge discovered that sheep have brain power to equal rodents, monkeys, and in some tests, humans. They discovered the sheep "intelligence" while researching neurodegeneration, with a focus on Huntington's disease, an inherited disorder that leads to nerve damage and dementia.The scientists put sheep through a set of challenges often given to humans suffering from Huntington's. The sheep showed that they had advanced learning capabilities, as they were able to navigate the challenges in the same way as humans and primates.Leadersheep
The Icelandic leader sheep is a separate line within the Icelandic breed of sheep. As the name implies these sheep were leaders in their flocks. The leadership ability runs in bloodlines and is equally in males and females.Sheep of this strain have the ability, or instinct, to run in front of the flock, when it is driven home from the mountain pastures in autumn, from the sheep sheds to the winter pasture in the morning and back home in the evening, through heavy snowdrifts, over ice covered ground, or across rivers. Sometimes the Leaders would take the whole flock of grazing sheep on winter pasture back to the farm, early in the day, if a blizzard was on its way.Self-medicating sheep
Research has suggested that sick sheep could actually be smart enough to cure themselves. Australian researchers believe that sick sheep may actually seek out plants that make them feel better. There has been previous evidence to suggest that animals can detect what nutrients they are deficient in and can develop knowledge about which foods are beneficial or toxic.Foiling cattle guards
Sheep easily and frequently foil traditional cattle guards. They can easily tip-toe across the grid or walk along the edges.  Agile sheep or lambs can simply jump across a standard guard. Famously, hungry sheep have even learned to roll across the flat metal pipes on their backs to avoid getting their feet stuck.

Question 7

Sheep senses

Accepted Answer

What do sheep see, hear, and smell?

Because they are a prey animal, sheep require excellent senses to enhance their chances of survival in the wild.

Vision
Sheep depend heavily on their vision. They have excellent peripheral vision and can see behind themselves without turning their heads. However, they have poor depth perception. They cannot see immediately in front of their noses. Some vertical vision may also have been sacrificed in order to have a wider field of vision. For example, it is doubtful that a sheep would be able to see something in a tree.

Color perception
Contrary to previous thought, sheep and other livestock perceive colors, though their color vision is not as well-developed as it is in humans. Sheep will react with fear to new colors.

Hearing
Sheep have excellent hearing. They can direct their ears in the direction of a sound. Sound arrives at each ear at slightly different times, with a small difference in amplitude. Sheep are frightened by high-pitched and loud noises, such as barking dogs or firecrackers.

Smell
Sheep have an excellent sense of smell. They are very sensitive to what different predators smell like. Smell helps rams locate ewes in heat and ewes locate their lambs. Sheep also use their sense of smell to locate water and determine subtle or major differences between feeds and pasture.

Taste
The sense of taste in sheep is probably not as important as the other senses. However, sheep have the ability to differentiate different feedstuffs and taste may play a role in this ability. When presented with a variety of feeds, sheep will select certain feeds over others. Sheep will select different types and species of plants than other livestock.

Touch
Since the sheep's body is covered with wool or coarse hair, only the nose, lips, mouth, and maybe ears readily lend themselves to touching behavior. However, touching is important to the interaction between sheep. Lambs seek bodily contact with their mothers and the ewes respond to touching in many ways, including milk letdown in response to the nuzzling/suckling stimulus of lambs. When young lambs sleep, they will seek out their mothers and lie close to them.

Question 8

Beauty adorns the ram with horns

Accepted Answer

Do all rams have horns?Horned vs. Polled
While originally all rams had horns, sheep can have horns or not, depending upon their breed, sex, and genetics. In some sheep breeds, both sexes are horned. In some breeds, only the rams have horns. Some sheep breeds have both a horned and polled strain. Some have multiple horns.When neither sex is horned, the breed is said to be polled or naturally hornless. Partial or undeveloped horns are called scurs. While horns are sometimes removed from cows or goats for safety and management ease, horns are seldom removed from sheep unless they pose a danger to the animal.Beautiful horns
A sheep's horns are hollow, consisting of a keratinous sheath overlying a bony core that is attached to the skull. Horns will grow through a sheep's lifetime, with the most rapid growth occurring during the first two to three years of life.The living horn of a sheep has blood flowing through it. If it is broken or cut off, it will bleed. When the sheep dies, the horn's interior will dry up and become hollow.Sheep horns tend to curl and spiral, whereas goat horns grow straight out or up. Some rams have such beautiful horns that they are raised as "trophy" animals. Horns can be made into knife handles, hair combs, powder horns, and horse bits.The genetics of horns
Horn presence is controlled by three genes. One gene (P) is dominant for the polled condition. One gene (p) is sex-linked for non-polled. The third gene (p') produces horns in both ewes and rams. There is a 25 percent chance you'll get horned offspring from two polled parents, if each parent is heterozygous for horns (Pp).At the same time, the male sex hormone plays an important role in horn development, as rams usually have larger, more striking horns than ewes and in breeds in which only the male is horned, wethers will be hornless like ewes.Rare genetics allow some sheep to have multiple horns. The breed best known for having four horns is the Jacob. Other breeds in which some individuals have multiple horns include the Icelandic and Navajo Churro.Polled sheep
Horns are useful to wild sheep, but do not have much of a purpose in commercial sheep production systems. Horns can make handling sheep, especially rams more difficult and dangerous, and more time-consuming. Horned animals can get their heads stuck in fences, feeders, and equipment.  horned animals can be destructive to equipment and dangerous to each other. As a result, selection has been for polled animals over the years.You will find horned sheep in mostly non-commercial hobby flocks.

Question 9

Ouch!  Why do rams butt?

Accepted Answer

Natural and learned behavior
Head butting is both a natural and learned behavior in sheep. Contestive head butting is a carry-over from when sheep ran wild and from those that still do. Since only the dominant rams get to mate with the ewes, rams must fight to earn this privilege.Rutting
Classic head butting among rams is highest during the "rut" or breeding season which precedes the onset of estrus activity in ewes. It is a way for rams to get into physical shape for the breeding season and to establish (or re-establish) the dominance hierarchy.Establishing a social order
Sheep are the classical flocking animal. They work out a social order by head butting, poking with horns, shoulder pushing, blocking, and mounting. This is seen most clearly in rams who back off, then charge, meeting head-to-head with a large bang.Discourage butting
Rams begin to butt at a young age.  To discourage butting, you should avoid petting or scratching a ram on the head. The ram may see this as a challenge or aggressive behavior. To a ram, a person is part of the flock and someone he wants to dominate.It can be difficult to stop an aggressive ram from butting. Striking him may make him more aggressive or cause him injury. Spraying water on the ram's face may dissuade him from butting. You can put a mask on the ram to keep him from butting. The mask blocks his side vision. Sometimes, the best course of action is to cull a ram that is overly aggressive.Never turn your back on a ram

No matter how friendly a ram may seem, he should never be trusted. You should never turn your back on a ram. Ram can cause serious injury to you and other sheep. There have been instances where rams have caused the death of people.

About sheep