🐑 Sheep
Also known as: ewe, dairy sheep, Ovis aries
Domestic sheep give milk richer than cow’s milk: 6.4 g fat and 5.6 g protein per 100 g, 100 kcal (FAO).
The sheep (Ovis aries) is a domestic ruminant raised for meat, wool and milk. Sheep milk is rich: according to FAO, 100 g holds 6.4 g of fat, 5.6 g of protein and 5.1 g of lactose, or 100 kcal; on average only buffalo milk is fattier. Sheep supply about 1.4% of the world’s milk, mostly made into cheese.
According to FAO, about 61% of the world’s sheep milk is produced in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and China supplied 17% in 2010. In the Middle East and North Africa, sheep milk made up 7.5% of production in 2006–2009. The largest producers are China, Turkey and Greece; the dairy breeds include Awassi, East Friesian and Lacaune.
Sheep give less milk than cows or goats: FAO notes that yield and lactation length cannot be compared with dairy cattle, and breeding has not produced a meaningful increase. Yet well-known cheeses are made from sheep milk: Roquefort and Pecorino are sheep cheeses, and feta is made from sheep milk or a mix of sheep and goat milk. For 100 g of Pecorino, FAO gives 392 kcal.
The seasonal moving of livestock to the mountains and back, known as transhumance, was added by UNESCO in 2023 to the list of intangible heritage at the proposal of ten countries.
Why it matters to you. On a cheese label, look for the type of milk: feta can be made from a mix of sheep and goat milk, and a truly “sheep” cheese is worth telling apart from a cow’s-milk one by what is written on it. Sheep milk has more calories than cow’s milk: 100 kcal per 100 g versus 62.
Facts
| Main use | Meat, wool and milk; the milk mostly goes into cheese 12 |
|---|---|
| Region | About 61% of sheep milk comes from the Mediterranean and the Middle East 1 |
| Country | Largest milk producers: China, Turkey, Greece 2 |
How it connects to milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Sheep's milk
- What it gives
- 🧀 Cheese, 🥛 Milk
- Its milk is used for
- 🧀 Bryndza
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Lamb
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Who cares for it
- 🧑🌾 Herder
- Where it is milked
- 🌍 Balkans, 🌍 Carpathians, 🌍 Southern Europe, 🌍 East Africa
- Which peoples keep it
- 🧑🤝🧑 Romanians, 🧑🤝🧑 Slovaks, 🧑🤝🧑 Iranians, 🧑🤝🧑 Mongols, 🧑🤝🧑 Greeks, 🧑🤝🧑 Palestinians, 🧑🤝🧑 Moroccans, 🧑🤝🧑 Kyrgyz, 🧑🤝🧑 Lebanese, 🧑🤝🧑 Ukrainians
- Part of
- 🐐 Small ruminants
- Wine and milk
- 🍷 Wineskin, 🐝 Sheep grazing in vineyards
Frequently asked questions
How much milk does a sheep give?
Less than a cow: FAO notes that the yield and lactation length of sheep cannot be compared with dairy cattle, and breeding has not produced a meaningful increase. Exact figures depend on the breed.
Which cheeses are made from sheep milk?
Roquefort and Pecorino; feta is made from sheep milk or a mix of sheep and goat milk (FAO).
Is it true that sheep milk is fattier than cow’s milk?
Yes: according to FAO, 100 g of sheep milk has 6.4 g of fat versus 3.3 g for cow’s milk; on average only buffalo milk is fattier (7.5 g).
How much of the world’s milk is sheep milk?
About 1.4% of world milk production (FAO, 2006–2009); in the Middle East and North Africa, 7.5%.
Which sheep breeds give a lot of milk?
FAO names Awassi, East Friesian and Lacaune; most dairy breeds are kept in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
History
What to read next
- 🥛 Sheep's milk — The richest in protein and calcium of the common milks; almost all of it goes into cheese.
- 🍼 Lamb — The young of a sheep.
- 🧑🌾 Herder — A worker who grazes a herd; by FAO's estimate, about 200 million pastoralists worldwide make their living from grazing livestock.
- 🌍 Southern Europe — The Mediterranean south of Europe — Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal: sheep's and goat's milk cheeses and most of the world's olive oil.
- 🧀 Bryndza — Bryndza is a natural white spreadable sheep's cheese from Slovakia, made by milling matured lump cheese and salting it.
Similar
🐐 Goat · 🐄 Cow · 🐎 Mare · 🐪 She-camel · 🐃 Water buffalo · 🐂 Zebu
Sources
- FAO. Milk and dairy products in human nutrition (2013)
- FAO. Dairy animals: Small ruminants
- UNESCO ICH. Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock (2023)