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Animal Age

How old does a Sheep get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Sheep reaches?

An adult Sheep (Ovis aries) usually gets as old as 19.17 years.

Sheeps are around 152 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 2.38 kg (5.24 lbs) and measure 2.37 meter (7′ 10″). As a member of the Bovidae family (genus: Ovis), their offspring is 1 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 1.3 meter (4′ 4″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Sheep gets as old as 19.17 years

Sheep (Ovis aries) are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like most ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name sheep applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female is referred to as a ewe (), an intact male as a ram, occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a young sheep as a lamb.Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia; one of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep’s wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. Ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones in Commonwealth countries, and lamb in the United States (including from adults). Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science.Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production.There are a large lexicon of unique terms for sheep husbandry which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap; it is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age.Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and find representation in much modern language and symbology. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals.

Animals of the same family as a Sheep

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Bovidae):

Animals that reach the same age as Sheep

With an average age of 19.17 years, Sheep are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Sheep

The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:

Weighting as much as Sheep

A fully grown Sheep reaches around 37.47 kg (82.6 lbs). So do these animals:

  • Giant armadillo weighting 41.33 kilos (91.12 lbs) on average
  • Galápagos fur seal weighting 39.47 kilos (87.02 lbs) on average
  • Vaquita weighting 43.11 kilos (95.04 lbs) on average
  • Sumatran orangutan weighting 39.7 kilos (87.52 lbs) on average
  • Red gazelle weighting 40 kilos (88.18 lbs) on average
  • Gerenuk weighting 38.65 kilos (85.21 lbs) on average
  • Pyrenean chamois weighting 30 kilos (66.14 lbs) on average
  • Tucuxi weighting 42.82 kilos (94.4 lbs) on average
  • Wolf weighting 33.38 kilos (73.59 lbs) on average
  • Bonobo weighting 35.15 kilos (77.49 lbs) on average

Animals as big as a Sheep

Those animals grow as big as a Sheep: