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Sheep have a breeding season (tupping) in the autumn, though some can breed year-round. [1] As a result of the influence of humans on sheep breeding, ewes often produce multiple lambs. This increase in lamb births, both in number and birth weight, may cause problems with delivery and lamb survival, requiring the intervention of shepherds. [2]
Feeder cattle or store cattle are young cattle soon to be either backgrounded or sent to fattening, most especially those intended to be sold to someone else for finishing before butchering. In some regions, a distinction between stockers and feeders (by those names) is the distinction of backgrounding versus immediate sale to a finisher.
Female cattle, also referred to as "heifers" in agriculture, will gradually enter standing estrus, or "standing heat," starting at puberty between 9 and 15 months of age. The cow estrous cycle typically lasts 21 days. [5] Standing estrus is a visual cue which signifies sexual receptivity for mounting by male cattle.
Sheep and goats are found primarily in Eurasia, though the Barbary sheep and the ibex form part of the African fauna. The muskox is confined to the arctic tundra. Several bovid species have been domesticated by human beings. The domestication of goats and sheep began 10 thousand years ago, while cattle were domesticated about 7.5 thousand years ...
A Wiltshire Horn ewe and her triplets. The Wiltshire Horn is a breed of domestic sheep originally from Wiltshire in southern England raised for meat. [1] The breed is unusual among native British breeds, for it has the unusual feature of moulting its short wool and hair coat naturally in spring, obviating the need for shearing. [2]
Wiltipoll sheep (polled Wiltshire Horn) shed their wool annually in spring to summer and produce lean, heavy lambs. They are a polled breed (no horns) bred for the production of prime lamb. The wool is simply shed and falls to the ground. [2] Due to this process, the energy of the sheep is directed into meat and milk, not wool.
Both scientific names Bos taurus and Bos indicus were introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, with the latter used to describe humped cattle in China. [3]The zebu was classified as a distinct species by Juliet Clutton-Brock in 1999, [8] but as a subspecies of the domestic cattle, Bos taurus indicus, by both Clutton-Brock and Colin Groves in 2004 [9] and by Peter Grubb in 2005. [10]
Short-tailed sheep were gradually displaced by long-tailed types, leaving short-tailed sheep restricted to the less accessible areas. [3] These included the Scottish Dunface , which until the late eighteenth century was the main sheep type throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland , including Orkney and Shetland . [ 4 ]