Sheep
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97 free Sheep trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free sheep trivia questions with answers. Are you a sheep expert or just woolly curious? Test your knowledge with our comprehensive 97-question sheep trivia quiz covering breeds, history, behaviors, and fascinating facts. Whether you're a farmer, animal enthusiast, or trivia lover, this challenging quiz will entertain and educate. See how many questions you can answer correctly!
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Q 01How many distinct compartments are there in the stomach of a domestic sheep?
Four
The first chamber alone holds 19 to 38 litres of fermenting feed; the last, the abomasum, works most like a human stomach and is nicknamed the 'true stomach'.
Q 02What is a common term for a group of sheep?
Flock
A flock offers safety in numbers, crucial for a prey animal; in Australia and New Zealand a big one is a 'mob'.
Q 03What shape are the pupils of a sheep's eyes?
Horizontal slit
The horizontal slit gives sheep a very wide sweep of peripheral vision, and heavily woolled breeds can suffer 'wool blindness' when facial fleece grows over the eyes.
Q 04Approximately how many years ago were sheep first domesticated?
10,000-11,000 years ago
Sheep were domesticated roughly 10,000-11,000 years ago from the wild mouflon in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, among the earliest livestock; Mehrgarh in present-day Pakistan may have been a separate centre.
Q 05A rare hybrid of a female sheep and a male goat is known by what name?
Geep
A geep is rare because sheep and goats have different chromosome counts, so most such pregnancies fail and the survivors are usually infertile.
Q 06What is the scientific name for the domestic sheep?
Ovis aries
The scientific name for the domestic sheep is Ovis aries. It distinguishes them from other species within the genus Ovis, which includes various wild sheep.
Q 07Which of these is a widely recognized fine wool sheep breed?
Merino
Merino fibre can carry up to 40 waves per centimetre, and its finest grade, under 17 microns, is the benchmark for apparel wool.
Q 08How many front teeth do mature sheep have on their lower jaw?
Eight
Mature sheep have eight front teeth on the lower jaw and none on top, biting against a hard dental pad; of their 32 teeth, anatomists differ on whether the lower set is eight incisors or six plus two canines.
Q 09What is the most common vocalization made by sheep?
Bleat
A bleat, or 'baa', is for contact; sheep also grunt, rumble and snort.
Q 10How long does a domestic sheep usually live?
10-12 years
Most sheep live 10 to 12 years, though some reach 20; in the first few years a sheep's age can be read from its front teeth as milk teeth are replaced.
Q 11Which sense is crucial for a ewe to recognize her lambs?
Smell
After giving birth, ewes form a selective bond with their offspring primarily based on their sense of smell. They can differentiate their lambs from others by their unique scent.
Q 12What product from sheep is used in cosmetics and lubricants?
Lanolin
Lanolin is a waxy substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals, particularly sheep. It is widely used in cosmetics, skincare products, and various industrial applications.
Q 13Which of these internal parasites is a major concern for sheep producers due to its blood-sucking nature?
Barber's pole worm
The Barber's Pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is a significant internal parasite in sheep, known for its blood-sucking behavior which can lead to anemia, weakness, and even death in infested animals.
Q 21What is the traditional product derived from the fleece of sheep?
Wool
Wool is the most widely used animal fibre in the world, usually harvested by shearing.
Q 22Which country is known for having a very high sheep population and being a major wool producer?
Australia
Australia has run one of the world's largest sheep flocks since the 19th century; its wool exports overtook Germany's by 1845 to supply the mills of Bradford, and it leads the world in fine Merino apparel wool.
Q 23What is a young sheep called?
Lamb
Lamb also names the meat of a young sheep; the youngest, still drinking milk, are sold as milk-fed or spring lamb.
Q 14What is a female sheep called?
Ewe
Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms, considerably lighter than intact males, which can reach 160 kilograms.
Q 15Sheep are classified as what type of eater?
Herbivore
Sheep are herbivores: their diet is entirely plant material, and a rumen full of bacteria, fungi and protozoa lets them break down cellulose that humans cannot digest.
Q 16Where is the wild mouflon, considered an ancestor of domestic sheep, primarily found?
Europe and Asia
Domestic sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon, a species found in Europe and Asia, with Iran being a significant domestication center.
Q 17Which term, also known as 'chewing the cud', names the process where sheep regurgitate and re-chew partly digested food?
Rumination
Rumination is cud-chewing: the bolus is periodically regurgitated from the rumen, re-chewed to break down plant matter, and swallowed again for more efficient digestion.
Q 18What is a castrated male sheep commonly called?
Wether
Castration is usually carried out in the first weeks of life, often with a rubber elastrator ring; wethers are kept mainly for wool or meat.
Q 19How long, roughly, does a ewe carry her lambs?
About five months
A ewe's gestation is about five months, roughly 147 days; she only visibly shows the pregnancy about six weeks before lambing, and normal labour takes one to three hours.
Q 20Which of these is NOT a compartment of a sheep's stomach?
Duodenum
The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine; the abomasum, the last stomach chamber, is the one most like a human stomach.
Q 24Sheep have specialized scent glands located in front of their eyes and where else?
On their hooves
Sheep possess scent glands just in front of their eyes and interdigitally on their feet (hooves), which are believed to be used for communication and in breeding behaviors.
Q 25With their poor depth perception, what pasture features make sheep baulk?
Shadows and dips
With poor depth perception, sheep baulk at shadows and dips in the ground, so handlers keep yards evenly lit; oddly, 'visual cliff' experiments show lambs can judge a drop from one day old.
Q 26What is meat from a grown sheep called?
Mutton
Mutton is meat from an adult sheep, typically more than two years old, darker and stronger-flavoured than lamb; the word came into English from Old French 'moton'.
Q 27Which common meat sheep breed is recognized by its black face and legs?
Suffolk
The Suffolk sheep breed is well-known for its meat production and is easily identifiable by its distinctive black face and legs, contrasting with its white fleece.
Q 28How often is each adult domestic sheep typically shorn of its fleece for wool?
Once a year
Once a year is the norm, usually in spring, and the shearing matters for the sheep's health and comfort in warm weather as much as for the wool.
Q 29What common term describes a ewe giving birth?
Lambing
Lambing is signalled when the lamb drops: the ewe develops a swayback, grows restless and looks sunken in front of the hipbone.
Q 30Which of these famous cloned animals was a sheep?
Dolly
Dolly was a Finnish Dorset born at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh and named after Dolly Parton.