My mind is stuck on sheep…

…wondering how they will fare in today’s extreme heat, Western Washington’s  predicted  temperatures are 100 to 113 degrees, with lower temps along the water. I can’t imagine being a sheep, hauling around extra pounds of wool on a day like today.

So I did a little research on sheep.

What I learned

According to Sheep 101, sheep are bred in the Fall and lambs are born in the Spring. The mild weather and abundance of fresh grass  make Spring an ideal time for lambs to get their start in the world.

Of course there are many varieties of sheep (over 60 breeds in the US and an estimated 1000 breeds worldwide) so it is difficult to speak in generalizations. Most sheep produce wool, but about 10% of sheep worldwide produce hair rather than wool. There is no need to shear them because their hair sheds. These breeds are raised for meat rather than fiber.

Sheep are shorn once a year—in the Spring—but some sheep are shorn in the Fall as well. So if a sheep were born in the Spring or had been shorn in the spring, how heavy might its wool be by today, June 28?

“One sheep produces anywhere from 2 to 30 pounds of wool annually.”¹ On average, a sheep in the US will produce 7.2 pounds of wool in a year. That works out to 1.8 pounds of wool by summer.

So maybe its safe to assume that a local sheep feeding in a nearby field is not as hot as we are!

But wait—there’s more!

Another tidbit I found about sheep in the summer is this: “Shearing in spring…allows the sheep to have at least one inch of wool on their coats in summer. That inch of wool helps keep sheep comfortable during the hottest periods of the year in much the same way it does for us humans: by wicking moisture away from the surface skin to help dissipate body heat more rapidly.”²

So there you have it! It sounds like God thought of everything, as always, when he created sheep!

Thank you for coming along with me on this rabbit trail today.

Before you go, you might want to check out the story of Chris, a sheep who missed out on many haircuts. But don’t worry, it’s a story with a very happy ending.

Stay cool. Keep hydrated. See you Thursday.

Ginger

If you have an interest in anything related to sheep, including raising them yourself, check out Sheep 101. I found it very informative and fun.
¹Sheep 101
²Shepherd’s Dream