Sheep 101 - Sheep Dairying

Sheep have been raised for their milk for thousands of years and were milked before cows. The world's commercial dairy sheep industry is concentrated in Europe and in countries on or near the Mediterranean Sea. The industry is in its infancy in the United States. There are approximately 100 sheep dairy farms in the U.S. They are concentrated in northwestern Wisconsin and New England. There are several large sheep dairies in New York and California.

Sheep Milking in Nowy Sącz, Poland

World Milk Production in 2001

Species	Thousand million liters	As a percentage
Cow	494.6	84.6
Buffalo	69.1	11.8
Goat	12.5	2.1
Sheep	7.8	1.3
Other	1.3	0.2
TOTAL	585.3	100

Source: FAO of the United Nations

Attributes of Sheep (Ewe) Milk

Sheep milk is highly nutritious, richer in vitamins A, B, and E, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium than cow milk. It contains a higher portion of short and medium chain fatty acids, which have recognized health benefits. For example, short-chain fatty acids have little effect on cholesterol in humans and make milk easier to digest.

According to a German researcher, sheep milk has more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) -- a cancer-fighting, fat-reducing fat --than the milk from pigs, horses, goats, cattle, or humans.

The fat globules in sheep milk are smaller than the fat globules in cow milk, making sheep milk more easily digested. In addition, sheep milk can be frozen and stored until a sufficient quantity is available for sale or to make into cheese. Freezing does not affect the cheese-making qualities of sheep milk.

Sheep milk has a higher solids content than goat or cow milk. As a result, more cheese can be produced from a gallon of sheep milk. Sheep milk yields 18 to 25 percent cheese, whereas cow and goat milk only yield 9 to 10 percent.

While sheep produce less milk than goats and much less than cows, sheep milk sells for a significantly higher price per pound, almost four times the price of cow milk.

Composition of Different Kinds of Milk

	Human	Cow	SHEEP	Goat
Solids (%)	12.50	12.01	19.30	12.97
Fat (%)	4.38	3.34	7.0	4.14
Protein	1.03	3.29	5.98	3.56
Calcium (mg)	32	119	193	134
Calories (kcal)	70	61	108	69

Source: The Nutritional Value of Sheep Milk by George F. W. Haenlein

Making Milk

Most of the sheep milk produced in the world is made into cheese. Some of the more famous cheeses made from sheep milk include: Feta (Greece, Italy, France), Ricotta and Pecorino Romano (Italy) and Roquefort (France). The U.S. annually imports 75 million pounds of cheese made from sheep milk. Sheep milk is also made into yogurt and ice cream. Fresh sheep milk is rarely consumed.

Specialized Dairy Breeds

While ewes of any breed of sheep can be milked, as with other species of livestock, there are specialized dairy sheep breeds. Worldwide, there are more than two dozen dairy sheep breeds, though only a couple are available in the U.S. Specialized dairy breeds produce 400 to 1,100 pounds of milk per lactation, whereas the milk production of typical U.S. sheep breeds (raised for meat and wool) is only 100 to 200 pounds per lactation. The East Friesian breed is the most common and productive breed of dairy sheep in the world. Their average production is 990 to 1,100 pounds per lactation of 220 to 240 days. Two other highly productive breeds of dairy sheep are the fat-tailed Awassi and Assaf breeds from Israel. The breed of choice in France is the Lacaune.

East Friesian Ewe

Photo courtesy of Crane Creek

Awassi Sheep in Kazakhstan

Worldwide, most sheep are milked seasonally by hand. This is because sheep are often raised in remote areas where no cow could survive. Modern sheep dairies use sophisticated machines for milking: milking parlors, pipelines, bulk tanks, etc. Ewes are milked once or twice per day.

Milking sheep in Moldova
Hand Milking in Moldova

modern sheep dairy
Milking parlor at University of Wisconsin
Spooner Agricultural Research Station

In the United States, dairy ewes are managed in different ways. On some farms, ewes are not milked until the lambs are weaned at 30 to 60 days of age. Another system allows lambs to suckle their dams for 8 to 12 hours per day, after which time they are separated for the night and the ewes are milked the following morning. Lambs are weaned at 28-30 days and ewes are milked twice per day thereafter. Maximum milk yield is obtained when lambs are removed from their dam within 24 hours of birth and raised on artificial milk replacer, as is common in northern Europe (with the East Friesian breed) and in cow and goat dairies.

Cheese cave
Cave for Aging Cheese

Farmstead Cheese

Cheese from the ewe,
milk from the goat,
butter from the cow.

A Spanish proverb

. . New Words . .

Dairy - having to do with milk and milk products.

Lacation - the secretion and yielding of milk by the mammary gland.

Wean - to eliminate mother's milk from the young mammal's diet.

Dam - female parent of an animal, especially domestic livestock.

Cheese - a firm or soft food made from the pressed curd milk.

Aging - to develop a certain quality of ripeness; become mature.

Do they really milk sheep

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