Learning About Sheep
Elementary Level Packet
Sponsored By Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers Association
PO Box 2290 San Angelo, TX 76902 Ph. (325) 655-7388 FAX (325) 655-2255 http://www.tsgra.com
Learning About Sheep
Sheep have been used for food and wool since Biblical times. Today, sheep and wool are important to people in countries all around the world. Sheep provided clothing to early civilizations, which allowed them to explore and inhabit colder regions. Female sheep are called ewes, and male sheep are called rams. Baby sheep are called lambs. Lambs can stand soon after they are born and quickly start drinking the warm milk from their mothers. The lamb quickly learns who its mother is by smell and the sound of its mothers bleat. The smell of the ewes milk passing through the lamb lets the mother know which lamb is hers. Lambs stay with their mothers for about 5 months. At 6 months of age a lamb is well grown and will weigh between 110 and 120 pounds. Sheep live in groups called flocks. Ranchers are always moving the flocks from place to place so they do not damage the land. The sheep feed on forage that grows again next year. Many times this forage is made up of weeds that would hurt the environment if the sheep were not there to eat them. Sheep help to fertilize the range, control unwanted vegetation, and help capture rainfall in the little hollows they make in dry soil. These depressions also help to provide shelter for growing seeds. Sheep must be protected from predators. Coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, and other types of predators like sheep because they do not have a way to protect themselves and are easy to catch. Guard dogs are often used to protect the sheep. They grow up with the sheep and patrol the pastures to protect them from harm. Working sheep dogs are the ranchers best helper. They gather the sheep from pastures and rough, steep rocky areas that are hard for the rancher to get to. There are over 150 different kinds of sheep. Some sheep are raised mostly for meat. Lamb is one of the most nutritious and flavorful types of meat. Other sheep are raised mostly for the quality of their wool. Shearing is when the wool is removed from the sheep. A fleece is the coat of wool removed from the sheep at shearing time. In addition to wool and meat, sheep also furnish us with leather, milk, lanolin and dozens of other items we use in our daily lives.
Learning About Sheep
Study Questions
Answer the following questions. Be sure to use complete sentences. 1. How does a lamb know which ewe is its mother? _______________________ _______________________________________________________________ 2. How can a ewe tell her lamb from other lambs? ________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 3. Why are ranchers always moving the flocks of sheep from place to place? ___ _______________________________________________________________ 4. Name three things that sheep do to help the areas they graze in. ___________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 5. Why do predators like sheep? ______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 6. Name four predators that ranchers must protect sheep from. ______________ _______________________________________________________________ 7. Why are dogs useful to sheep ranchers? ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 8. What are the two main items that sheep are raised for? __________________ _______________________________________________________________ 9. What is shearing? ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 10. What are some other items that we get from sheep? _____________________
Learning About Sheep
Crossword Puzzle
Use the words from the reading to help you find the answers to the puzzle. Across: 2. A group of sheep 3. A male sheep 5. The fiber we get from sheep. 7. What sheep help to benefit? 9. Animal that gives us wool and meat. 10. A female sheep Down: 1. Animal used to help protect sheep. 2. Wool removed from sheep. 4. Product we get from sheep. 5. Unwanted plants that sheep eat. 6. A baby sheep 8. The land over which sheep roam.
