Sheep

By Collin Meints
Introduction:
Sheep have many different products, such as wool made into clothes,
meat, and can be milked for sheep milk. I always wondered if sheep were really
stupid because of their brain or if their instincts are that way
Body:
There are 3 main products of sheep wool for clothes, meat, and milk, so
its no surprise that they were the very first animals domesticated by people.
They were first domesticated in about 3000 B.C. In the 1600s England tried to
stop wool production in the colonies so they would pay more for the wool but it
did not work because the colonies already had ten thousand sheep of their own to
shear (www.sheep101.info www.wikipedia.org).
Sheeps natural enemies are wolves, coyotes, foxes, eagles, hawks So
sheeps natural enemies are just about anything that eats meat can kill a lamb.
Some farmers use sheep dogs as protection, but sometimes a ewe (female sheep)
accidentally sits on the lamb while it is drinking. Farmers sometimes have to
bottle feed the lamb if the ewe dies, cant milk, or if it doesnt claim the lamb.
To bottle feed the lamb you have to mix up the milk supplement and sometimes
have to force its mouth open to feed it. All sheep have a different bleat (sound it
makes (baaa)) so the ewe and lamb know which ones theirs.
Sheep
One of the sheeps natural instinct is to flock together, therefore some
farmers think that sheep are stupid because this makes it very difficult to single
out a sheep or try to load them into a trailer to get to the market or another
pasture where they have grass to eat so they dont starve, but it is actually an
instinct that could possibly save the sheeps life from a predator
(www.sheep101.info).
Sheep are used all over the world: the United States; Texas is the leading
producer of sheep with one million, fifty thousand sheep, and Iowa has only two
hundred fifty thousand sheep. Some of the most common sheep breeds are
Merino Wool Sheep, Rambouillet Sheep, and the Suffolk (World Book). China
has the largest sheep population in the world 130 million sheep (Australia is
second with 115 million) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep).
Conclusion:
As you can see sheep rely on their herds as well as farmers, to protect,
feed, and care for themselves. There are also many different products sheep can
produce. I personally had about seventy five Suffolk mix sheep now I only have
thirteen mixed (some Suffolk and some mixed too much to tell)
The End