The Ultimate Sheep Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
2 min
The Ultimate Sheep Quiz
Image: Philippe Bourseiller

About This Quiz

Some people count them to help them sleep, while others wear their skins to keep warm or enjoy their meat. No matter what, sheep are popular domesticated animals. Learn more about these creatures by taking this quiz.
Is there a similarity between sheep and cattle?
four-chambered stomach
cloven hoofs
ruminant and cloven-hoofed
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Both species have stomachs that are divided into four chambers and both are cloven-hoofed.

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What is a ram?
female sheep
male sheep
any sheep without horns
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The male sheep is called a ram.

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What is a ewe?
sheep under one year old
young male sheep
female sheep
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A ewe is a female sheep.

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How can you tell a wild sheep from a domestic sheep?
coat of stiff hairs
long-haired coat
longer, sharper horns
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The wild sheep has a shorter tail and a coat of stiff hairs.

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What is the natural inclination of sheep?
basically individualists
flock together
carnivores
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sheep tend to flock together and follow a leader.

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How does this inclination benefit the farmer?
One shepherd controls a flock.
Farmer can determine the kind of leadership within a flock.
Sheep always return to familiar grazing grounds.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A single shepherd can control hundreds of sheep.

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If you are offered mutton, what are you about to receive?
sheepskin jacket
meat from an older sheep
female sheep tail
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Meat from an older sheep is called mutton.

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What weight does a ram reach?
250 pounds (114 kg)
350 pounds (160 kg)
450 pounds (204 kg)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A mature ram can weigh 350 pounds (160 kg).

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How much can an adult ewe weigh?
250 pounds (115 kg)
200 pounds (91 kg)
150 pounds (68 kg)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The ewe can weigh in at 250 pounds (115 kg).

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Does the sheep have to be killed before its wool is taken?
Shorn sheep will die of hypothermia anyway.
The wool is attached to the skin, so the sheep must be killed.
Wool is shorn from live sheep.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Live sheep are sheared and the wool grows again.

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Can the fleece of a sheep be tan in color?
It's always white.
It can be.
Only female sheep can have colored fleece.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Although fleece is usually white, it can be tan in color.

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Which sex of sheep have horns?
depends on breed
only males
mainly females
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Both can have horns, depending on the breed.

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How many breeds of domestic sheep are there?
100
150
200
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are more than 200 breeds.

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And how many of these breeds are economically relevant?
12
25
48
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Only about a dozen are significant.

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Which breed of sheep produces the finest wool?
New Zealand Woolly
Hampshire
Merino
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

That honor belongs to the Merino, originally developed in Spain.

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From where do most breeds of meat sheep originate?
Australia
United Kingdom
Spain
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Most meat-producing sheep are immigrants from the United Kingdom.

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What is the outstanding characteristic of the Hampshire breed?
brown or black faces
extremely soft fleece
aggressive and dangerous
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hampshires usually have brown or black faces.

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What is unusual about the Corriedale?
Only females have horns.
Rams have large spiral horns.
Neither sex has horns.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Both sexes lack horns.

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What breed of sheep is raised mainly for milk?
Rambouillet
East Friesian
Suffolk
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Awassi and the East Friesian are raised for milk.

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At what age are lambs raised for meat slaughtered?
four to seven months
seven to nine months
nine to 11 months
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They are marketed at age four to seven months.

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You Got:
/20
Philippe Bourseiller