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Separating Sheep From Goats
Say the word sheep and the average urban dweller will think 'baa' or cute woolly little lambs. The country person may think of stinking dim witted beasts, and both would be right. Not all sheep have wool. It is believed that sheep as the western world know them today are descended from warm climate breeds who have hair not wool. Most hair sheep will grow a wool like undercoat in the cold season and shed it in the warm season. Centuries of selective breeding, choosing for the wool trait has made the wool breeds much more familiar than their hairy cousins. Countries like France and Greece appreciated cheeses made from sheep milk and that led to regional breeds with exceptional milking capability. Australia and New Zealand have developed breeds renowned for the quality and volume of their wool and others that are quick growing with the meat characteristics desired by lamb eating ethnic groups. The difference is A few things other than coat differentiate the hair sheep from the woollies. Wool sheep tend to be breedable only in the fall and lamb in the spring. Hair sheep can and will breed any time of year. With careful flock management it is entirely possible for a ewe to have three lamb crops in a two year period. Hair sheep also tend to have more multiple births, and raise those lambs unassisted. Because the coat is not prone to fly infestation it generally is not necessary to dock or crop the hair sheep's tail. Hair sheep have leaner meat, many who don't like the taste of traditional lamb will be quite shocked (if not disbelieving) when told the delicious meat they have been eating is lamb. The Hairy ones Most people have no idea what a wool sheep looks like without its wool. Hair sheep generally look pretty much the same as any other sheep except, as previously mentioned, for the coarse hair coat. This leads to confusion for casual observers, they have no wool therefore they must be goats. How do you separate or tell the difference between the hair sheep and the goats driving past at 55 miles an hour? Goats carry their short tails sticking straight up in the air, sheep tails hang down. So now you know. |
A flock of young hair sheep
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I think one other difference would be a tolerance, or lack thereof, for rain. Here in Cebu they say that if someone doesn't like taking cold showers (standard bathing procedure on this tropical island), she is "like a goat." And indeed, the goats look distinctly miserable when it rains, bleating forlornly, in stark contrast to the cows who munch on happily even in a downpour. I would assume the sheep wouldn't mind the rain either.
 |  | nick Jun 7, 2008 03:56 | |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
They hate it! They will huddle under the smallest spindly bush to get out of the rain. I always thought "like a goat" referred to the personal odor of the reluctant bather, male goats do smell awful.
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