Differences Between Lambs & Sheep

Sheep have been raised as livestock for thousands of years for use as a source of food and textile fiber. A lamb is a sheep that is less than one year old and relies on its mother's milk as a food source. Sheep are herbivores, meaning they eat a diet consisting strictly of vegetation. A ewe is a female sheep one year or older. A castrated male sheep a year or older is a wether, and an uncastrated male sheep a year or older is a ram.

  1. Lambs

    • Sheep are four-legged mammals with the multiple stomachs characteristic of ruminant herbivores. A older lamb that still is less then one year of age may eat grass as well as drink its mother's milk. A spring lamb (between three and five months old) and a baby lamb (between six and eight weeks old) will drink only its mother's milk.

    History of Sheep as Livestock

    • Lambs and sheep were first domesticated as livestock in Central Asia for their milk, meat and woolly coat. Past world regions known for reliance on sheep as livestock are Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Asia. The world's current largest producers of sheep livestock are India, China, Australia and the United Kingdom. Sheep were introduced to the Americas by Hernando Cortez in 1519.

    Mutton and Lamb

    • Mutton refers to meat from sheep. Mutton has a gamey taste and a tougher grain to the meat. Lamb or spring lamb refers to meat from lambs of a specific age. Farmers gain a greater profit from lambs, since their meat lacks the toughness of mutton. Mutton has been a typical food found in the field rations of soldiers in the United States.

    Other Resources

    • Other important resources that come from sheep are their wool, milk and skins. Early sources of parchment came from the skins of sheep. People also either drink sheep milk or use it to make cheese. Sheep farmers also remove the overcoat of the animals to make textiles. Another difference between sheep and lambs is that the wool from lambs makes a finer weave than that from a mature sheep.