Philipmaxypaul

Raising sheep can be fun and rewarding if you live on a small farm or even in a rural home with a bit of available pasture space. They are docile, gentle animals for hobby farms, and they serve many purposes, such as providing meat, wool and even milk. For many rural families, sheep are virtual pets. If you are considering raising sheep on your small farm or homestead, here are some basics to consider before you start assembling your flock. When selecting the right sheep breed, the first thing to consider is the purpose of the sheep. Are you raising them for meat or wool, or just as pet lawnmowers? Or are you taking the less common route and raising them for milk? Although sheep don't yield nearly as much milk as cows or goats, some people do enjoy the taste of sheep's milk, and it can be used to make delicious cheeses and yogurts. You will also need to consider your local climate, so ask around locally as to what breeds are being raised by other farmers in the area There are hundreds of breeds of sheep, but the list of those most commonly raised is fairly small. After deciding on a breed, careful selection of individual animals is critical. Make sure that you purchase sheep directly from the person who raised them. Look at the flock the sheep comes from, talk with the farmer about the history of the animal and its parents. Sheep are ruminant animals, which means they eat predominantly plants such fresh grass and hay. They can thrive quite nicely if they are fed nothing but good pasture grasses, salt, a vitamin and mineral supplement, and fresh water. Pastures for sheep can include a mixture of grasses, brush, and trees. In general, one acre of good quality pasture can support four sheep. While the pasture grass is growing, sheep can feed themselves without supplements, but in the winter or if there is a drought, you will need to supplement their diet with hay and/or grain. Make sure to use a raised feeder rather than putting the hay on the ground, where it will get wet and dirty. Ewes who are about to lamb, or sheep you are raising for market, will benefit from supplements of grain.

If you've ever asked yourself "What is a Baby Sheep Called?" you aren't alone, and the truth is that there are several different names for baby sheep used around the world. The most common (and the most accurate) name for a baby sheep is lamb, but the "lamb" term can accurately be used to describe any sheep which is under a year old. The word lamb is also used to describe the meat of any sheep under a year of age, which is why it can get a bit confusing for folks who are new to sheep. There are several other proper names a baby sheep can be called. A ram lamb is the name for a baby male sheep and a ewe lamb is what a young female sheep is called. If a young male sheep is castrated it can accurately be called a wether. The British dictionary also includes the term lambkin to describe a baby sheep.

Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones in Commonwealth countries, and lamb in the United States (including from adults). Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science. Sheep husbandry is practiced throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production. Sheep raising has a large lexicon of unique terms which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap; it is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock, herd or mob. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age.

Jack rabbits are true hares because, unlike the cotton tailed rabbits, they do not build nests. The mother simply chooses a place to her liking and the young are born fully furred, with their eyes wide open. Despite their name, jack rabbits aren't true rabbits. They are hares, distinguished by long, arched backs and extra-large hind feet. The long ears from which they got their name after being likened to jack donkeys are essential for survival, both for cooling and for hearing predators approach. Compared with humans, they have relatively short lives, but they make up for it by reproducing rapidly. The white-tailed jack is the largest of California's hares. It weighs from 6 to 8 pounds. In winter it is sometimes mistaken for the snowshoe rabbit, because, in the colder parts of its range, individuals turn completely white. The range of the white-tailed jack in California is restricted to the east side of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges from Tulare County north to the Oregon border. The snowshoe rabbit's range is a long narrow strip from the Oregon border down through the higher elevations of the Klamath, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada ranges as far south as Tuolumne County. There are a few snowshoe rabbits in the Warner Mountains in Modoc County. The snowshoe is seldom seen for it prefers to live in dense fir thickets, and in winter is isolated by deep snow. Habitat Unlike the black-tailed jack, which prefers to live in valleys and flat, open country, the white-tailed jack lives in the hills and mountains. In their summer coat, in areas where the ranges of these two jack rabbits overlap, there may be some confusion as to identity. However the two may be distinguished by the color of the underside of their tails. The tail of the black-tailed jack is brownish underneath; the tail of the white-tailed jack is white. The snowshoe rabbit is more easily identified as it is the smallest hare. It looks more like a cottontail rabbit. Its ears are shorter than its head, but the underside of its tail is brown, not white like the cottontail. The black-tailed jack rabbit is 18 to 25 inches long and is colored buff peppered with black above, and white below. The tail has a black stripe above. The ears are long and brown with black tips. The antelope jack is approximately the same size, but colored gray above with the lower sides mostly white. The face, throat and ears are brownish, but there is no black tip on the ears. As solitary animals, jack rabbits don't spend time together before or after mating. During mating periods, however, the males and females chase each other in a playful manner before actually mating. Females usually mate multiple times per year, having between four and six litters every year, depending on climate conditions. In temperate climates, jack rabbits breed year-round, but in colder areas breeding takes place between December and September. The gestation period varies slightly between species but is typically around 40 days. The white-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus townsendii), which is the most common, has a gestation period of 36 to 43 days, with the average being 42 days. The black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus californicus) has a slightly longer gestation period, lasting 41 to 47 days with an average of 43 days. Litter sizes vary greatly depending on the individual rabbit; litter size for a white-tail jack rabbit ranges from one to 11 and averages five; the black-tail jack rabbit normally has one to eight young per litter, averaging two or three.