This Merino sheep is in need of shearing. Click on the banner below for more photos of farm animals: Merino Sheep Sheep Sheep Farm Merino Sheep
Australian Merino sheep in pens outside of the shearing shed Rural Scene Australia Mammal Merino Sheep
Animals on Free State farm Livestock Sheep Shearing South Africa Donkey grazing with Merino sheep on South African farm
Arles Merino sheep, ram, 3 years old, standing in front of white background. Ram - Animal Sheep Merino Sheep Front view of Arles Merino sheep, ram, standing.
Sheep (Ovis aries) are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. A male sheep is called a ram and a female sheep is called a ewe /juː/. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleece, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science. Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production. Field Animal Farm Out in the Pasture