Mature female sheep (called ewes) are usually bred (mated) in the fall. After a 5-months pregnancy (gestation), an average of 1.5 lambs per ewe are born in the spring. The lambs nurse their mothers for a variable time (several months), are weaned and then are kept as breeding replacements or fed for slaughter (at about 100 pounds).

Sheep produce two major crops: wool and lambs. The wool is sold for use in making clothes, etc. The lambs are fed for slaughter to produce meat. Some sheep are kept as pets or for show.

Sheep are ruminants with a complex, 4-compartmented "stomach". They eat grass at pasture as well as grain.

Sheep are most unique in that they produce wool.

• Produce wool.
• A good animal for children to raise and show as a 4-H project.
• An important animal in world agriculture with many unique breeds.