| Afterbirth |
The placenta and membranes that are expelled from the uterus after lambing. |
| Antibody |
A substance that helps fight disease. Colostrum is high in antibodies. |
| Apparel wools |
All wools that are manufactured into cloth for use as clothing. |
| Breed |
A group of sheep that look alike and have the same ancestors. |
| Clean fleece weight |
Weight of fleece after it has been washed and scoured. |
| Colostrum |
The first milk, high in antibodies, produced by a female mammal after it gives birth. |
| Commercial flock |
A sheep flock that is used to produce traditional lamb and wool products for sale to commercial markets. |
| Crimp |
The natural waviness of wool fiber. |
| Creep feeding |
Giving lambs extra feed when they are still nursing. |
| Crossbred |
An animal whose parents are of two different breeds. |
| Dam |
The female parent, the mother. |
| Deworming |
Giving a compound to an animal orally or through injection to prevent or destroy any internal worms. |
| Docking |
Cutting the tails short on baby lambs. |
| Drenching |
Oral administration
of a liquid, usually a medicine for internal parasites. |
| Ewe |
A female sheep. |
| Ewe lamb |
Female sheep that is less than one year old and is usually not bred. |
| Feeder lamb |
A weaned lamb that has opportunity to grow for at least 30-60 days before being ready for market. |
| Feedstuff |
Material used for feed. |
| Fleece |
The wool from one sheep. |
| Fleece weight |
Weight of shorn wool from one animal. |
| Flock |
A small group of sheep. |
| Forage |
Roughage such as
grasses and legumes used for animal feed; it may be fed as pasture, hay or silage. |
| Grain |
Feeds like corn, wheat and barley that are high in energy. |
| Grease wool |
Shorn wool that has not been washed. |
| Hay |
Livestock feed made from grasses that have been cut and dried so they can be stored without molding. |
| Lactation |
Period of time when ewes are nursing young lambs. |
| Lamb |
A sheep under one year of age or the meat from young sheep. |
| Lambing percentage |
Number of lambs born
in the flock as compared to the number of ewes exposed to the ram.
For example: 150 lambs born to 100 ewes exposed to the ram x 100 =
150 percent. |
| Lanolin |
Refined wool grease. |
| Legume |
A plant with nodules
on the roots containing special kinds of bacteria that are able to
convert atmospheric and soil nitrogen into protein. Beans, clover and alfalfa are legumes. |
| Livestock |
Farm animals raised for milk, meat, work and wool;
includes beef and dairy cattle, swine, sheep, horses and goats; may also include poultry. |
| Market weight |
The weight of the animal when sold for processing. |
| Mutton |
Meat from sheep that
are harvested at two years of age or older. Has a stronger flavor than lamb meat. |
| Parasite |
An organism that lives on another organism. |
| Parturition |
The act of giving birth. |
| Pasture |
A plot of land where plants are cultivated for grazing. |
| Pelt |
The skin from a slaughtered sheep before the wool on it has been removed. |
| Placenta |
The tissue that contains the fetus during its development and connects the fetus to the dam. |
| Polled |
An animal that is born without horns in a species that sometimes has them. |
| Processing |
Slaughter or butchering of market animals to be used for food. |
| Purebred |
An animal descended from a line of ancestors of the same breed; may or may not be registered. |
| Ram |
A male sheep, also known as a "buck." |
| Ration |
The amount of feed eaten or provided within a 24 hour period. |
| Roughage |
Bulky feeds like hay that are low in energy. |
| Scouring |
Process by which grease (lanolin) and dirt are removed from wool. |
| Scurs |
Small, rounded portions of horn tissue attached to the skin at the horn pits of polled animals. |
| Sire |
The male parent; the father |
| Staple length |
Length of the wool fiber in the fleece. |
| Weaning |
Separating the ewes and lambs so the lambs cannot nurse (receive milk) from the ewe. |
| Wether |
A male sheep that has been castrated. |
| Wool yield |
Pounds of clean wool as a percentage of pounds of grease wool. |
| Yearling |
An animal between one and two years of age. |
