Sheep and lambs - Sheep are over one year of age. They have usually produced offspring. Lambs are less than one year of age. They have usually not produced offspring.

Lamb and Mutton - Lamb is also the term for the flesh of a young domestic sheep eaten as food. The meat from a sheep that is older than 12 months is called mutton.

Wool - The fiber that most sheep grow is called wool. The wool from one sheep is called a fleece. Many fleeces from the same farm, wool pool, region, or state are called a clip.

Ewes -  A female sheep is called a ewe. Yoe is a slang term for ewe. A young female is called a ewe lamb. The process of giving birth to lambs is called lambing. Another word for birthing is parturition.

Rams - A male sheep is called a ram. Buck is the slang term for ram. A young male is called a ram lamb. In parts of the United Kingdom, a ram is called a tup and the mating season is called tupping.

Wethers - A castrated male sheep is called a wether. Wethers are less aggressive than rams.

Yearling - A yearling is an animal between 1 and 2 years of age that may or may not have produced offspring. In other countries, a yearling ewe is called a hogget, shearling, gimmer, theave, or teg.

Flock - A group of sheep is called a flock. Larger groups of sheep are called bands or mobs.

Shepherd - A shepherd is a person who cares for sheep.

Sheepherder - A sheepherder is a herder of sheep on open range. It is someone who keeps the sheep together in a flock. In the U.S., the sheepherder is not usually the owner of the sheep.

Teaser - A teaser is a ram that has been surgically altered in a way that prevents him from reproducing.

Slime Graft - Is rubbing the fetal fluids and membrane of a ewe's lamb onto a lamb that you wish to graft onto her, usually in the case of abandonment or death of the graft lambs mother.

Lanolin - Lanolin is wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals sometimes called wool grease or also called yolk.

​Sheep Terminology