The world’s first and most widely domesticated animals were sheep (Ovis arise), and they have existed alongside humans for a long time. Wool, meat, and milk are just a few products we still rely on sheep and lambs for.
Besides the many wild sheep species, millions of domesticated sheep and lambs worldwide exist. Have you ever wondered about the sheep and lamb difference? There should be some difference as we buy lamb in the supermarket and not sheep.
The difference between lamb and sheep is nothing more than age. Lambs and sheep look the same because they are the same. You’ll find baby sheep are called lamb; male sheep are a ram, and female sheep are ewes. In our guide, you can learn more about lamb and mutton, which is the difference in meat from respective sheep at certain ages. By the end, you’ll know when a lamb turns into a sheep and what hogget meat is.
You’ll also see that with a shortage of fresh green grass for commercial growth, lambs are raised differently to support the need for lamb meat around the year. (Read Keeping Geese Off Docks Guide)
What Lamb Meat Comes Form Baby Lambs?
While meat can be taken from older breeding stock, like mutton, most lamb is taken from younger sheep. Here are the main types of lamb you can come across in the open market.
New Zealand Lamb
Lamb is synonymous with New Zealand, where there are more sheep than people. The reason is that, unlike sheep, most other animals are not well suited to the country’s mountainous, grassy, and cool environment.
Because of the efficiency, the country has established, New Zealand’s lamb is frequently the most affordable alternative and is exported all over the world, including to the UK. New Zealand benefits as it maintains the ideal ingredients for high-quality, reasonably priced lamb thanks to its low production costs, ample space, and plentiful grass.
New Season Lamb
Although this is frequently advertised on labels, menus, and in butchers, few people know what it is. Healthy lamb comes from ewes with access to a good supply of fresh grass as their mothers’ milk feeds the lambs.
It is the spring period, or lambing season when grass grows, and lambs are born. The young lambs can enjoy fresh grass after 3 to 4 weeks of being fed milk.
Because there is less fresh grass available in the winter, fewer lambs are born then. Throughout the summer, stores sell lambs born in the early spring.
Saltmarsh Lamb
Even beyond being raised free-range, some lambs expressly specify the pasture they are raised on, such as saltmarsh lamb. This meat comes from animals raised on grasslands along the coast or in salted marshes, where they had access to pristine, salty pasture and fresh air.
This lamb is of a high caliber and has a sweet flavor. To fully appreciate the flavor and texture of the meat, it should be prepared with only the most basic seasoning. (Read What Are Feeder Pigs)
Are Lamb And Sheep The Same?
Since they are the same animal at various ages, it is unsurprising that lambs and sheep have many similar characteristics. Nevertheless, there are numerous major differences between them.
1. Lamb vs. Sheep: Animal Size
Lambs are noticeably smaller than adult sheep. A newborn lamb might weigh from 5 to 10 pounds at birth. Fully-grown sheep are much larger, and wild sheep are usually even larger.
2. Lamb vs. Sheep: Wool Coat
Both lambs and sheep produce wool, yet you’ll find a difference in the quality of wool. Lamb’s wool is softer and more delicate as the first shearing is at 6 months of their life stage. Lambswool is popular for making sweaters and blankets.
3. Lamb vs. Sheep: Diet
For the first few weeks of its life, a lamb swallows ewe milk. After that, it consumes grasses, flowers, and legumes, as is normal for sheep.
4. Lamb vs. Sheep: Domestication
Lambs spend the most time with their mother and siblings. They stay in the pasture when they turn into yearlings and are close to family. Sheep in domestication is social, although wild sheep spend time alone on the mountainside.
Can You Eat Sheep?
You can eat sheep, but lamb is more commonly consumed. Because it is younger, a lamb has soft meat. Hogget meat is a UK term and refers to meat from lambs at 12 to 24 months old.
Sheep meat (mutton) preparation and serving options are constrained by the necessity to tenderize it over an extended period.
What is Sheep Meat Called?
Mutton is produced when a sheep older than a year old is butchered. The animal’s age at the time of slaughter is the only significant difference between lamb and mutton.
Why Do People Eat Lamb and Not Sheep?
There are two options available to you when considering consuming sheep meat.
Will it be lamb or mutton?
While mutton has more flavor, the meat from a lamb is more tender than the meat from an adult sheep. A tiny roasting lamb will be ideal when you only need one nice meal for your family.
If you want greater flavor and more pounds of cooked meat, such as roasting the whole animal for a party, mutton, or an older sheep will be of service to you. A milk-fed lamb is called a young lamb between the ages of six and eight weeks.
Because of its mild flavor, lamb is chosen in most Western countries. Lamb raised on milk is regarded as having a very delicate flavor. When compared to other lamb kinds, spring lamb is incredibly soft and has a milder flavor.
Is Eating Lamb Healthy?
The choice to consume lamb is excellent for your health. A very healthy meat option is lamb. Like other ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, lamb provides a wonderful meat choice. Lambs do not require confinement or a diet of grains. Lambs only need water, sunlight, nutrients from the soil, and a few periodic licks on the salt block. (Read What Sound Do Llamas Make)
Like other meat animals kept in confined areas, lambs do not respond to stress effectively. So, they are crammed into the confinement barns. The local butcher is one option you have for purchasing meat.
In a smaller slaughterhouse compared to a mega slaughterhouse, there is a noticeably lower danger of meat contamination. Mega slaughtering plants kill a large number of animals to process.
Because of this, speed rather than caution is their top priority, even if eating lamb is healthy.
Purchase from a local slaughterhouse to maintain the quality and prevent contamination. It will make you feel safer and improve your shopping experience.
What Are Lambs?
A young sheep under the age of one year is referred to as a lamb. Although the terms “sheep” and “lamb” are frequently used interchangeably, they are pretty distinct. A lamb largely depends on its mother’s milk, as lambs don’t consume as much grass as older sheep.
To put it simply, a lamb is a young sheep in its first year, and the lamb’s meat will be far tender. A small roasting lamb may be suitable for a family dinner, yet you’ll need older sheep for more people.
What Is A Sheep?
A ruminant mammal that has reached adulthood and been raised for livestock is known as a sheep. Sheep generate a large amount of meat, milk, and wool. An uncastrated male sheep is known as a “ram,” and a female is referred to as a “ewe.” A “wether” is a castrated male sheep.
Sheep typically give birth to single sheep, although occasionally, they may produce twins. When these things happen, the sheep is called a bum or a black belly. The farmer will have an additional duty if the sheep gives birth to many lambs.
One baby lamb is kicked away by the mother sheep. Then, one lamb must be cared for by the farmer. Sometimes it entails feeding a newborn lamb formula from a bottle.
When Do Lambs Become Sheep?
Up until the age of one year, lambs are sheep. When a lamb reaches the age of one year, it is referred to as a sheep. A lamb that has stopped drinking its mother’s milk is referred to be a hog. Lambs stay together in a flock when they are very young. Unless there is a shepherd to protect them, lambs are easy prey. A farmer could also choose to set up safeguards around the lambs.
Most lambs will reach the market weight at 6 months of age. This is when they have been raised for meat production. A lamb is ready for the market anywhere from 80 to 110 pounds of live weight. The breed of a lamb and its environment have an impact on this as well. As lambs reach maturity, they have a filled-out frame and bone structure covered in a reasonable amount of muscle and fat covering their bodies. An animal one year of age remains a lamb until it is introduced to the opposite sex for mating. From this point, a lamb is considered to have become an adult sheep.
A one-year-old animal is still a lamb until it is introduced to a partner of the other sex for mating. A lamb is regarded as having reached this point when it becomes an adult sheep. Particularly older and larger lambs are used to give lamb chops because they would produce a larger piece of meat and more of it.
Mutton is the name of the meat from adult sheep. A ewe or ram enters the food chain once it has reached the end of its productive age. (Learn How Long Can Rabbits Go Without Food)
Specific traditional foodies say that meat from these older animals has a more excellent taste. They would favor it over lamb, mainly if the lamb were fed grains. Mutton tastes like the flavorful meat they grew up eating at home. The hue of lamb meat is thought to range from pink to pale crimson. Mutton is a deep shade of red, and a strong flavor with a fair quantity of fat. Lamb has very little fat and a mild flavor.
