What Is a Baby Lamb Called?

Stacie/CC-BY-SA 2.0

There are no other names for a baby lamb because baby sheep are called lambs. A lamb is a young sheep that is less than 14-months-old, so newborn sheep are called lambs.

There are other names for sheep as they age. After 14 months of age, a lamb is called a sheep or an ewe (female sheep), ram (male sheep) or wether (castrated male sheep).

Sheep are very intelligent creatures and can recognize up to 50 different sheep faces as well as remember them for two whole years. They can also recognize human faces. Sheep are primarily heterosexual, but 8 percent of male sheep are homosexual.

Sheep can be found throughout many different countries, and in New Zealand, there are 34.2 million sheep, or seven sheep for every human being. Sheep are often compared to goats; however, goats have 60 chromosomes and sheep have 54 chromosomes. They are different species.

Sheep are used for their wool and for their cheese-making abilities. As far back as 10,000 B.C., sheep have also provided wool for humans. The Romans used wool cloth, and it was an important stable in Britain as early as 55 B.C. Sheep’s milk is used for its extra nutritional value and is often made into cheese. It has higher levels of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E and calcium than cow milk and can be used to make several different kinds of creamy cheese, including French Roquefort, Italian milk ricotta, Italian Pecorino Romano, Spanish Manchego and Greek feta.

ADVERTISEMENT