Sheep were one of the first animals ever to be domesticated by humans. They were raised for  milk, meat, and skins. the first sheep to be domesticated was the wild mouflon. It was domesticated between 1100 and 9000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia.

The mouflon is considered to be one of the main ancestor of sheep but the direct path is unclear. Sheep have been cross bred for years to form more breeds. Cross breeding caused many deformities along the way. They also used the method of selective breeding  to produce the best wool, milk , and meat on the sheep.

mouflon
The male mouflons grow large horns used in fights, to show their dominance.

sheep have evolved exponentially in many ways, sheep used to have little amounts of wool that would grow slowly. If you were to sheer that wool it wouldn’t have grown back in many months. The sheep would not overheat if they were not sheered. If the domesticated sheep we have now were to be set free into the wild, they would have a hard time surviving. The wool that they have would grow too long and it would be hazardous for the animal.

This past week, Sugar has been growing at a casual rate. She has adapted to being alone and likes to go outside and eat the dried leaves until it’s too dark out and she runs back into her sheep shack. She has been showing no signs of illness or loneliness and if she continues this, she may become territorial if another species enters her area. She has also became more comfortable with wearing her halter. 

As you might see sugar has an ear tag. It is used for identification purposes. Sugars particular ear tag has a microchip that can be scanned for access to the information of the sheep such as her date of birth, breed, owner, etc.