The raising of
domestic sheep has occurred in nearly every inhabited part of the globe, and the variations in cultures and languages which have kept sheep has produced a vast
lexicon of unique terminology used to describe
sheep husbandry.
Terms
Below are a few of the more common terms.
A-C
Backliner – an externally applied medicine, applied along the backline of a freshly shorn sheep to control lice or other parasites. In the British Isles called pour-on.
Bale – a wool pack containing a specified weight of pressed
wool as regulated by industry authorities.
Band – a flock with a large number of sheep, generally 1000, which graze on rangeland.
Bell sheep – a sheep (usually a rough, wrinkly one) caught by a shearer, just before the end of a shearing run.[1]
Bellwether – originally an experienced wether given a bell to lead a flock; now mainly used figuratively for a person acting as a lead and guide.
Black wool – Any wool that is not white, but not necessarily black.
Board – the floor where the shearing stands are in a wool shed.[1]
Bolus – an object placed in the
reticulum of the
rumen, remaining there for some time or permanently. Used for long-term administration of medicines, or as a secure location for an electronic marking
chip.[2]
Bottle lamb or cade lamb – an orphan lamb reared on a bottle. Also poddy lamb or pet lamb.
Boxed – when different mobs of sheep are mixed.
Break – a marked thinning of the fleece, producing distinct weakness in one part of the staple.
Broken-mouth or broken-mouthed – a sheep which has lost or broken some of its incisor teeth, usually after the age of about six years.
Broad – wool which is on the strong side for its quality number, or for its type.
Butt – an underweight bale of greasy wool in a standard wool pack.
Callipyge/kælɪˈpiːdʒ/ – a natural genetic mutation that produces extremely muscled hindquarters in sheep. These lambs are found in the US and lack tenderness.[3]
Cast – unable to regain footing, possibly due to lying in a hollow with legs facing uphill and/or having a heavy fleece. Also see riggwelter.
CFA or cast for age – sheep culled because of their age. Also see cull ewe, killer.
Chilver – a female lamb
Clip – all the wool from a flock (in Australian
Wool Classing).
Clipping – cutting off the wool: see shearing and rooing.
Comeback – the progeny of a mating of a
Merino with a British longwool sheep.
Creep feeding - Allowing lambs access to special, high-quality feed before weaning
Crimp – the natural wave formation seen in wool. Usually the closer the crimps, the finer the wool.
Crutching – shearing parts of a sheep (especially the hind end of some woollier breeds such as
Merino), to prevent
fly-strike. Also see dagging.
Cull ewe – a ewe no longer suitable for breeding, and sold for meat. Also see killer.
Dags – clumps of dried
dung stuck to the wool of a sheep, which may lead to
fly-strike. (Hence "rattle your dags!", meaning "hurry up!", especially used in
New Zealand.[4])
Dagging – clipping off dags. Also see crutching.
Devil's Grip – a serious conformation defect, appearing as a depression behind the withers.
Dewlap – the upper fold under the neck of a Merino sheep.
Dipping – immersing sheep in a plunge or shower
dip to kill external parasites. Backliners are now replacing dipping.
Docking – removing the tail of a sheep to prevent
fly-strike. See also crutching, dagging.
Downs – breeds of sheep belonging to the short wool group.
Draft ewe – a ewe too old for rough grazing (such as
moorland), drafted (selected) out of the flock to move to better grazing, usually on another farm. Generally spelt "draft", but in the
British Isles either as "draft" or "draught".
Drench – an oral veterinary medicine administered by a drenching gun (usually an
anthelmintic).
Driving or droving – walking animals from one place to another.
Dry Sheep Equivalent – (DSE) is a standard unit used in Australia to compare energy requirements between different classes and species of animals. A DSE is the amount of energy required to maintain a 45 to 50 kg Merino wether.
Eaning - the act of giving birth in sheep. See lambing.
Earmark – a distinctive mark clipped out of the ear (or sometimes a tattoo inside the ear) to denote ownership and/or age.
Ear tag – plastic or metal tag clipped to ear, with identification number, name or
electronic chip.
Ewe/ˈjuː/ – a female sheep capable of producing lambs. In areas where "gimmer" or similar terms are used for young females, may refer to a female only after her first lamb. In some areas yow.
Eye dog – a type of sheepdog (qv) which uses eye contact as a primary technique to herd sheep. See also huntaway.
Flock – a group of sheep (or
goats). All the sheep on a property (in Australian
Wool Classing); also all the sheep in a region or country. Sometimes called herd or mob.
Flushing – providing especially nutritious feed in the few weeks before mating to improve fertility, or in the period before birth to increase lamb birth-weight.
Flushing (eggs/embryo) – removing unfertilised or fertilised egg from an animal; often as part of an
embryo transfer procedure.
Fly strike or myiasis – infestation of the wool, skin and eventually flesh with
blowfly or botfly maggots, rapidly causing injury or death. Usually (but not always) occurs where the wool has become contaminated by dung or urine, or at the site of an injury. Also see crutching, dagging, Mulesing.
Fold (or sheepfold) – a pen in which a flock is kept overnight to keep the sheep safe from predators, or to allow the collection of dung for
manure.
Folding – confining sheep (or other
livestock) onto a restricted area for feeding, such as a temporarily fenced part of a
root crop field, especially when done repeatedly onto a sequence of areas.
Foot rot – infectious pododermatitis, a painful hoof disease commonly found in sheep (also goats and cattle), especially when pastured on damp ground.
G-K
Gimmer (/ˈɡɪmər/, not /ˈdʒɪmər/) – a young female sheep, usually before her first lamb (especially used in the north of
England and
Scotland). Also theave.
Graziers' alert or graziers' warning – a cold-weather warning issued by the weather bureau to sheep graziers.
Greasy wool – wool as it has been shorn from the sheep and therefore not yet washed or cleaned. Also see lanolin.
Guard llama – a llama (usually a castrated male) kept with sheep as a guard. The llama will defend the flock from predators such as
foxes and
dogs.
Gummer – a sheep so old that it has lost all of its teeth.
Hefting (or heafing) – the
instinct in some breeds of keeping to a certain heft (a small local area) throughout their lives. Allows different farmers in an extensive landscape such as
moorland to graze different areas without the need for fences, each ewe remaining on her particular area. Lambs usually learn their heft from their mothers. Also known as 'Hoofing' in some areas like North Yorkshire.[5]
Hogget, hogg or hog – a young sheep of either sex from about 9 to 18 months of age (until it cuts two permanent teeth); a yearling sheep, as yet unshorn.[6][7] Also the meat of a hogget. Also teg, old-season lamb, shearling.
Hoof-shears – implement similar to
secateurs, used to trim the hoofs of sheep.
Huntaway – a type of sheepdog (qv) which uses barking as a primary technique to herd sheep. Named for a
New Zealand breed of dog. See also eye dog.
In lamb – pregnant.
Joining – the placing of rams with ewes for
mating (see tupping).
Ked, or sheep ked – Melophagus ovinus, a species of
louse-fly, a nearly flightless biting fly infesting sheep.
Kemp – a short, white, hollow, hairy fibre usually found about the head and legs of sheep.
Killer – a sheep that has been selected for slaughter on an Australian property. Also see cull ewe.
L-N
Lamb/ˈlæm/ – a young sheep in its first year. In many eastern countries there is a looser use of the term which may include hoggets. Also the
meat of younger sheep.
Lambing – the process of giving birth in sheep. Also the work of tending lambing ewes (shepherds are said to lamb their flocks).
Lambing jug or lambing pen – a small pen to confine ewes and newly born lambs.
Lambing percentage – the number of lambs successfully reared in a flock compared with the number of ewes that have been mated – effectively a measure of the success of lambing and the number of multiple births. May vary from around 100% in a hardy mountain flock (where a ewe may not be able to rear more than one lamb safely), to 150% or more in a well-fed lowland flock (whose ewes can more easily support twins or even triplets).
Lamb's fry – lamb's liver served as a culinary dish.[8]
Lamb fries – lamb testicles when served as a culinary dish.
Lanolin – a thick yellow greasy substance in wool, secreted by the sheep's skin. Also called wool fat, wool wax, wool grease, adeps lanae or yolk. Extracted from raw wool and used for various purposes.
Livestock guardian dog – a dog bred and trained to guard sheep from predators such as
bears,
wolves, people or other
dogs. Usually a large type of dog, often white and woolly, apparently to allow them to blend in with the sheep. Sometimes given a spiked collar to prevent attack by wolves or dogs. Does not usually
muster the sheep. Sometimes called a sheepdog – but also see separate entry for this.
Marking knife – a knife with a clamp or hook made for lamb marking.
Myiasis – see fly strike.
Micron – one millionth of a metre, a measure of fibre diameter of wool in
wool measurement. Term used in preference to "
micrometre", the
SI name for the same unit.
Mob – a group or cohort of sheep of the same breed that have run together under similar environmental conditions since the previous shearing (in Australian
Wool Classing).[1]
Monorchid – a
male mammal with only one descended
testicle, the other being retained internally. Monorchid sheep are less fertile than full rams, but have leaner meat than wethers.
Mule – a type of cross-bred sheep, both hardy and suitable for meat (especially in northern
England). Usually bred from a
Bluefaced Leicester ram on hardy mountain ewes such as
Swaledales. May be qualified according to the female parent: for example a Welsh Mule is from a Blue-faced Leicester ram and a
Welsh Mountain ewe.
Mulesing – a practice in
Australia of cutting off wrinkles from the crutch area of
Merinos, to prevent
fly strike. Controversial, and illegal in some parts of the world. Named after a Mr Mules.
Mutton – the
meat of an older ewe or wether. May also refer to
goat meat in eastern countries. Derived from the
Anglo-Norman French word mouton ("sheep").
NSM – not
station mated. A term used in sale advertisements indicating that those ewes have not been mated.
Old-season lamb – a lamb a year old or more. Also hogget, shearling, teg.
Orf, scabby mouth or contagious ecthyma – a highly contagious viral disease of sheep (and goats) attacking damaged skin areas around the mouth and causing sores, usually affecting lambs in their first year of life.
Plain bodied – a sheep that has relatively few body wrinkles.
Poddy lamb, bottle lamb or pet lamb – an orphan lamb reared on a bottle. Also cade lamb, or placer.
Pour-on – see backliner.
Raddle – coloured pigment used to mark sheep for various reasons, such as to show ownership, or to show which lambs belong to which ewe. May be strapped to the chest of a ram, to mark the backs of ewes he mates (different rams may be given different colours). Also a verb ("that ewe's been raddled"). Also ruddy.
Riggwelter – a sheep that has fallen onto its back and is unable to get up (usually because of the weight of its fleece).
Ring – a mob of sheep moving around in a circle.
Ringer – the top shearer in a shearing gang.
Ringing – the removal of a circle of wool from around the
pizzle of a male sheep.
Rise – new growth of wool in spring beneath the previous year's fleece. Shearing is easier through this layer.
Rooing – removing the fleece by hand-plucking. Done once a year in late spring, when the fleece begins to
moult naturally, especially in some breeds, such as
Shetlands.
Rouseabout – (often abbreviated to 'rousie'), shedhands who pick up fleeces after they have been removed during
shearing.[1] See also broomie above.
Shearing – cutting off the fleece, normally done in two pieces by skilled shearers. A sheep may be said to have been either sheared or shorn, depending on dialect. Also clipping.
Shearling – a yearling sheep before its first shearing. Also hogget, old-season lamb, teg.
Sheepdog or shepherd dog – a dog used to move and control sheep, often very highly trained. Other types of dog may be used just to guard sheep (see livestock guarding dog), and these are sometimes also called sheepdogs. See also eye dog and huntaway.
Sheep – the species, or members of it. The plural is the same as the singular, and it can also be used as a
mass noun. Normally used of individuals of any age, but in some areas only for those of breeding age.
Sheepwalk – an area of rough grazing occupied by a particular flock or forming part of a particular farm.
Shepherd – a stockperson or farmer who looks after sheep while they are in the pasture.
Shepherding – the act of shepherding sheep, or
sheep husbandry more generally.
Wigging – the removal of wool from around a sheep's eyes to prevent wool-blindness.
Wool-blindness – when excessive wool growth interferes with the normal sight of a sheep.
Woolcock - a husband of sheep
Wool-grease – see lanolin.
Wool pack – a standard-sized woven nylon container manufactured to industry specifications for the transportation of wool.
Woolsack – a ceremonial cushion used by the
Lord Speaker of the
UKHouse of Lords, filled with wool to symbolise the importance of the wool trade for the prosperity of the country.
Yoke – two crossed pieces of timber or a forked branch fixed to the neck of a habitually straying sheep in an attempt to prevent it breaking through hedges and fences.