Sheep are a common breeding animal. The body is plump and the body hair is dense. Sheep have first domesticated in Southwest Asia about 11,000 years ago.
Sheep are now bred all over the world and are both timid and docile, making them easy to domesticate.
Characteristic features of sheep
1. Meekness
Sheep are docile, timid, and slow-moving.
This characteristic can be used to train sheep to follow directions and facilitate grazing management.
When sheep are suddenly frightened, they will have their ears up, eyes wide open, and run around. To avoid this, care should be taken to maintain a quiet environment while grazing.
Due to cowardice, rams cannot defend themselves and are defenceless despite having large horns, and must beware of wolves and other wild animals.
Sheep have a strong herding nature and like to be gathered together, which is conducive to group grazing.
When sheep go out or enter a pen, cross a bridge or river or pass through a narrow place, as long as there is a "head sheep" first, the rest of the sheep will follow and compete to follow, so although the flock is large, it is easy to drive and manage.
In summer, when pasture is plentiful, herd conformity is strong, while in winter and spring, due to competition for dry grass and leaves, herd conformity is often poor.
2. Like dry and clean, resistant to cold, and afraid of heat and humidity
Sheep like to be dry, afraid of humidity and heat. Sheep are susceptible to diseases such as parasitic diseases and arthritis in hot, humid, and cold sheds.
Sheep have thick skin, so they are generally not afraid of cold but of heat. In the summer heat, to prevent sheep from crowded together, pay attention to heat, when the weather is too hot sheep should be driven to the shade of the trees to rest, to escape from the heat of the sun before grazing.
In the cold winter months, sheep should be housed in sheds to keep them dry and protected from the wind and snow.
3. Sensitive sense of smell and strong feeding power
Sheep have a well-developed sense of smell and always use their nose to sniff before feeding on grass, and do not like to eat grass that is smelly, polluted, or trampled.
Therefore, grazing should pay attention to the frequent rotation of pasture, feeding grass, material placed in the grass rack rather than directly on the ground, each feeding before cleaning, and then putting grass.
Sheep like to drink clean running water or spring water and refuse to drink unclean water.
Sheep have thin and flexible lips, and sharp incisors, and can gnaw on low grass and roots, feeding on a wide variety of plants, accounting for about 88% of the entire forage plant species.
Regardless of the feeding method, sheep should be regularly vaccinated and dewormed.
Sheep infected with digestive parasites are particularly susceptible to dysentery, wasting, and death in the spring. Therefore, sheep should be given scientific and reasonable feeding conditions in the fall and winter to ensure that they can safely overwinter through the spring and grow healthily.
