Introduction to sheep farming

Few countries in the world have no sheep. They are found in tropical countries and in the arctic, in hot climates and in the cold, on the desert and in humid areas. There are over 800 breeds of sheep in the world, in a variety of sizes, shapes, types and colours.

Sheep were domesticated long before the dawn of recorded history. Wool fibres have been found in remains of primitive villages of Switzerland that date back an estimated 20000 years. Egyptian sculpture dating 4000-5000 B.C. portrays the importance of this species to people. Much mention is made in the Bible of flocks, shepherds, sacrificial lambs, and garments made of wool. The Roman empire prized sheep, anointed them with special oils, and combed their fleece to produce fine quality fibres that were woven into fabric for the togas of the elite.

Perhaps the first ruminants domesticated by man along with goats, sheep are a very valuable and important asset to mankind.

Domesticated sheep : phylum Chordata (backbone), class Mammalia (suckle their young), order Artiodactyla (hooved, even-toed), family Bovidae(ruminants), genus Ovis (domestic and wild sheep), and species Ovis aries

Domestication:-

"It is hard to imagine a wild animal more readily tamed than wild sheep"

Little is known about the original selection and domestication of sheep, but they are thought to have descended from wild types like the Moufflon, a short-tailed sheep. Wild varieties in Europe and Asia probably served as foundation stock to produce wool, meat, skins and milk. It appears that selection practices not only removed most of the wild instincts, leaving the species completely dependant on people for management and protection, but the tail also lengthened. Nearly all domestic sheep today have long tails before docking.

As weaving and felting began to develop as an important element in the advancement of civilization, more definite types and breeds of sheep began to emerge to produce quality fibres at the expense of other traits. The Merino breed of Spain developed into one of the first recognizable fine wool breeds. It was so prized that the King of Spain made it a crime punishable by death to send any out of the country without his permission.

The English also developed many breeds very early that would adapt to their varying climate. Domestic sheep were foreign to the New World and were first introduced by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 to the West Indies. Cortez brought sheep into Mexico in 1519, and Spanish missionaries contributed to their popularity through the teaching of weaving arts to the Indians.

The taxonomy and nomenclature of sheep and goats is very complicated, esp. that of sheep where altogether at least 40 wild races have been described. There are, however, eight basic taxonomic groups of sheep that may be summarized as follows:

Ovis nivicola (Siberian snow sheep)

Ovis aries (domestic sheep)

Ovis musimon (European mouflon)

Ovis orientalis (Asiatic mouflon)

Ovis dalli (dall or thin-horned sheep)

Ovis canadensis (bighorn sheep)

Ovis ammon (arkhar-argali / Marco Polo sheep)

Ovis vignei (urial)

Sheep in India and Arabia have originated from their wild ancestor Ovis orientale vignei … domesticated in the mountains of Iran, Turkistan & Balochistan. Reference to their role in the economy of mankind is found in the history of civilization of Mesopotamia, Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Wild sheep of various races have similar social behaviour. Males older than two years are normally found in groups of their own, segregated from the females and juveniles. They follow the largest horned ram in their band and females follow one of the mature lambed females.