I wonder if the sheep have horns?

Since time immemorial, sheep have been domesticated by man. And scientists, by the way, could not unequivocally answer the question of who was their ancestor. After all, for many centuries these half-horned cloven-hoofed animals underwent selective changes.

And it depended on the purpose for which these or those sheep were raised, because they always gave the person wool, skin, meat, fat and milk. In addition, in some nations they were also beasts of burden. Therefore, wanting to clarify whether there are horns in the sheep, it is necessary to understand first of all about what kind of breed we are talking about.

A little about possible ancestors of sheep

In structure, the moufflon, which now lives in the mountainous regions of Corsica and Sardinia, and also in Asia, is closer to the sheep than any modern wild sheep. Most often it is called the ancestor of domestic sheep.

European mouflon has a smooth shiny reddish-brown hair. Males of this species are armed with luxurious thick curved horns, and lighter and smaller females do not have them. Only some sheep can detect horns, and even very small ones.

Asian mouflons are somewhat larger. Horns in male rams in length and massiveness can be very different. And then, whether there are horns in the sheep-samochki, and does depend on the case. Although they are often decorated with them - small, flattened and slightly curved.

Mouflons easily form crossbreds with different breeds of domestic sheep and can be used to improve their quality. So, for example, Academician MF Ivanov used wild rams to breed a new breed - mountain merino, with excellent wool, able to graze in the mountains for a whole year.

Which sheep have more horns?

Due to the fact that sheep are grown in a variety of weather conditions and for different needs, a large number of breeds have been brought out for a long history of their domestication - there are more than 600 of them in the world. Only by examining them can we find out whether the sheep's horns , And if there are - how much?

The oldest breed is the sheep Jacob (or Jacob). By the way, it was almost extinct by the 70s of the last century, but the efforts of enthusiasts managed to restore the breed.

Yakob's sheep wool is piebald, has large stains, and the head is adorned with as many as 2 pairs of luxurious horns. Yes Yes exactly! One pair often grows upwards and reaches a length of 60 cm, and the other curls down. True, not all representatives of this breed have such impressive horns - there are individuals with small ones, and there are also two-horned sheep.

The Men's sheep can also boast of a multifaceted nature, and from the above described it is distinguished by the absence of spots and even brown color. It is interesting that these cloven-hoofed animals sometimes even grow 3 pairs of horns!

Look, if there are horns in the sheep - the photo clearly shows you this!

Horns of sheep have different shapes and shapes

The horns of the Wiltshire sheep are especially beautiful (you can see their photos here). They have a double curl, which gives the animal a very spectacular appearance.

In the little-known Hungarian breed, the horseshoe horns are flat straight and are twisted with a corkscrew.

But whether there are horns in a sheep of Wensleydale breed, depends most often on sex - in males horns are curled by a spiral, and in females there are none.

By the way, this artiodactyla, amazing with its appearance, has a long thin coat that grows in the form of "dreadlocks", which gives them a very funny look! For a year, this fleece grows to 36-45 cm, and at one time this breed was created specifically for making women's hairpieces, as well as court and theatrical wigs.

There are also hornless breeds of sheep

One of the breeds, which you can not ask about whether the sheep has a horn, is Dorper. These sheep are lumpy - that is, hornless. They were withdrawn in 1930 in South Africa.

Breeders needed animals that could survive in arid weather conditions and at the same time have excellent meat qualities. They achieved the goals. Large representatives of these unpretentious sheep eat 140 kg of weight.

To the same breeds can be attributed and the English sheep Ruge, which were named because of the pink color of their muzzles, uncovered with hair. They were first bred specifically for the production of the famous Camembert cheese, but now their meat is in demand.

There are no horns and sheep of the Santa Cruz breed, especially common in North America. They are mostly white, and the coat is straight and especially long on the neck and the withers, which makes it seem that the meek sheep has almost a lion's mane.

And for the appearance of sheep, the breeds of non-horns would be superfluous. These ornamental sheep, devoid of the undercoat with a straight long silky hair, are very similar to the Afghan greyhounds. Their hair is similar in structure to human hair. By the way, nezhda - one of the most expensive breeds of sheep.

So does the sheep have horns?

From a small number of examples given in the article, you probably already knew that the presence of horns in sheep directly depends only on their breed. And for some breeds and on whether the male is in front of us or a female.

But, despite the fact that there are horns in the sheep, it is considered to be a meek and meek being, which applies equally to all breeds. These pets have been accompanying a man for many centuries and, apparently, interest in them has not diminished. So we will see many more amazing breeds of sheep - both horned and hornless - but still necessary!