With our Lambing Weekend event fast approaching, we wanted to share with you interesting facts you may not know about sheep.
- Sheep, like goats, have rectangular pupils. Their rectangular pupils allow them to have a 270 to 320 degree field of vision. This means that they can see almost everything around them, except for what’s directly behind them, without having to turn their heads. This is especially useful for sheep as they are a prey species and need to always be on watch for predators.
- Lambs are born around 145 days (or about 4.5 months) after the ewe falls pregnant. Lambing can start as early as December and go on to as late as June. Specialist breeds will lamb all year round, satisfying demand for the Christmas and Easter trade.
- Sheep have an excellent sense of smell. They even have scent glands in front of their eyes and on their feet!
- Sheep are emotionally complex animals. Sheep are capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions, just as humans do. Many studies have highlighted the ability for sheep to feel afraid, angry, bored, sad and happy. Not only are sheep able to feel basic emotions, but their feelings can be very complex and include interactions between emotions and cognition. For example, believe it or not, scientific studies have shown that sheep can be pessimists and optimists!
- Sheep do not have teeth in their upper front jaw. Instead, the lower teeth press up against a hard upper palate to breakdown food.
We hope you enjoyed and learnt something new from our blog. If you would like to find out more about lambing, make sure you secure your tickets to our Lambing Weekend event on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March from 11am-4pm. We will be enjoying the arrival of Spring which includes our adorable new born lambs! We will bring together a variety of land based linked activities and displays as well as showcasing the College and what we do.
To find out more and book your tickets, click HERE!
