Farms: Sheep

Sheep eat grass.
They have long hair called wool.
The wool is cut off.
The wool is made into warm clothes.
We eat sheep meat.

Some farms grow sheep. Sheep eat grass. Their feet are hooves. Sheep are animals that give us wool and meat. There are more than 200 different kinds of sheep.

Go here to read about the different kinds:http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/

Sheep grow thick hair called wool. It is cut once a year. This is called shearing. The wool is cut close to the sheep's skin, and comes off in one piece. The cut wool is called fleece. The wool is put into bags called bales and is sold. In factories, the wool is washed, spun into threads called yarn and dyed into lots of colours. Yarn is knitted into clothes, or woven into cloth or rugs. The cloth is made into clothes or blankets.

Read about sheep wool here
http://www.woolisbest.com/kids_corner/index.html

Some sheep are grown for meat. Farmers fatten them up. Sheep dogs help the farmer round up the sheep and get them into trucks. The sheep are taken to the market and are sold. People go to butcher shops to buy the meat.

Some farms raise ewes for their milk, which is made into cheese. Only the females produce milk.

 Sheep are mammals, and producing milk to feed their young is something that all female mammals do. All mammals have special glands called mammary glands, but it is only in females that these glands produce milk.

A sheep family is ram, ewe (say you) and lamb. Rams have big curved horns.

A ewe gives birth about 150 days after mating with a ram. Sometimes a ewe has twin lambs. Lambs are born in spring.

The farmer's jobs
Each day of any farmer is to make sure the animals are fed and that they have plenty of clean water to drink. Farmers need to check their animals each day to make sure none are sick or injured, and if they are, they must be treated and often a vet is called in to do this.

Fences and yards have to be kept in good condition as does all the farm machinery and other equipment.

Shearing sheep
Shearing sheep is one of a farmer's tasks. Shearing can last for just a few weeks, but takes place all day every day. See the stages of shearing a sheep here http://www.nywool.com/shearing.html

If you use any of this information, write it in your notes like this:
Sydenham & Thomas, Sheep. [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2008)

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updated  © [2008] kidcyber