Sheep Terminology

Body condition scoring (BCS)

A process to assess the body reserves of a sheep on a scale of 1 to 5

Castration

Removal or ram lamb scrotum and testes

Crutching

Shearing wool from around the breech to prevent fly strike

Dagging

Removing faecal clumps from wool

Drenching

The practice of administering a preventative treatment orally to control internal parasites such as worms.

Ewe

A female sheep

Fly strike

A painful condition where a blowfly lays eggs on the skin of the animal and the emerging larvae create an open wound as they feed on the underlying skin tissue.

Frib

A short heavy conditioned piece of wool removed from a fleece during classing

Hogget

Sheep that has had it’s first adult teeth erupt (=2 tooth);

Pizzle/tossle

Penis

Joining

Mating of rams with ewes

Lamb (live animal)

Sheep with only its deciduous (baby) incisors, usually under 12 months old

Lamb (meat product)

Meat from young sheep under 12 months of age or which do not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear

Lamb marking

The term applied to the procedure of earmarking, castration and tail-docking of lambs

Maiden/ maiden ewe

A female sheep that has not been mated (joined) yet

Micron

A measurement of the diameter of the wool fibre, the smaller the number the finer the wool

Mulesing

Cutting crescent shaped flaps of skin from around a lamb's breech to prevent fly strike

Mutton

Meat from sheep over 12 months of age that have at least one set of permanent incisors in wear

Off-shears

Treating freshly shorn sheep with medication

Polled

Hornless breeds of sheep e.g. poll dorset

Race

A single file walkway for sheep entrance in a set of yards

Ram

An entire (uncastrated) male sheep

Ringing

Removing wool from around the pizzle

Scouring

Diarrhoea

Shearing

Removing wool from sheep

Skirting

When fribs are removed from the points and edges of a fleece corresponding to the belly, crutch, neck and mid leg regions of the fleece

Staple Length

The average length of a group of fibres

Staple Strength

The force required to break per unit staple thickness, expressed as newtons per kilotex

Staple

A cluster of wool fibres

Tail Docking

Removal of lambs tail

Weaner

Lamb that has been removed from its mother (10 to 12 weeks of age usually)

Weaning

The process of removing lambs from their mothers

Wether

Castrated male sheep

Wigging

Removing wool from the poll (head) and eyes