Sheep -- a private life

 

Lambs

 

Merino sheep usually lamb only once per year. Lambing generally takes place during spring, although it can also be timed for autumn to fit in with the availability of good pasture. The gestation period (i.e. duration of pregnancy) for ewes is five months. Generally, merino sheep have only one lamb although twins are not uncommon, especially in mature ewes. (Other sheep breeds are more likely to have twins and triplets.)

 

When a lamb is 1 to 3 months old, its tail is docked (cut off). Tails that are not removed tend to become soiled with dung and can attract blowflies, which often bring diseases. Lambs are shorn for the first time at seven months old.

 

Feeding

 

The number of sheep that can live on a pasture depends on the quality of the pasture and the rainfall it receives. In some very dry or poor soil areas each sheep may need two or three hectares of pasture. In very good conditions with irrigation, each sheep may only need a quarter of a hectare. Adult sheep eat between 1 to 4 kg of food per day, depending on the moisture content of the food.

 

Teeth and age

 

Sheep do not have upper front teeth instead they have a dental pad (i.e. a flat hard gum area) with eight lower incisors, no upper incisors, 12 molars on the top jaw and 12 molars on the bottom jaw. Farmers tell how old a sheep is by looking at the number of permanent incisors that have erupted. A two-tooth is about 1 to 1.5 years; a four-tooth is about 1.5 to 2 years; a six-tooth is about 2 to 3 years and an eight-tooth or full-mouth sheep is about 2 to 4 years. Once all eight permanent incisors are fully erupted the sheep can also be referred to as 'aged'.