Fritz Reed, age 12, of Beaumont, Texas, for his question:
WHICH STATE GROWS THE MOST SHEEP?
Sheep are among man's most important domesticated farm animals because they provide both food and clothing. The leading United States sheep raising state is Texas although the country is back in about tenth place when listing the world's chief sheep raising nations.
Following Texas as leading sheep raising states, in descending order, are Wyoming, Colorado, California, South Dakota, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and Ohio.
It's a toss up between Australia and Russia for first place honors as the world's leading sheep raising country. Other top countries include China, New Zealand, India, Turkey, Iran, South Africa, Spain, Romania and Mongolia.
Domestic sheep have woolly coats while many wild sheep are more hairy than woolly. The thick wool of the domestic sheep is the reult of man's selective breeding. Wild sheep have woolly underfur but it isn't as highly developed as the domestic kind.
The sheep was one of man's first domesticated animals. It not only provided wool for clothing but also milk, butter, cheese and meat. In addition to food, sheep also provide leather for furniture, shoes and bookbinding, as well as lanolin used in ointments and cosmetics. The animals could also grow fat in small pastures where cows would starve. Sheep were probably first domesticated more than 11,000 years ago in what is now northern Iraq.
Today some sheep are grown especially for their fine wool while others are grown specifically as meat producers. Sheep are grown in almost every country in the world and are regarded as being more widely distributed than any other species of domestic animal.
Sheep raising has become less important in the United States in recent years than it was in the last century. Many ranchers with good grazing land found it more profitable to raise cattle rather than sheep.
Sheering of sheep is usually done in the warm spring and summer months since animals newly clipped are easily chilled and can die from exposure in cold weather.
Removing the wool from sheep is an art that takes a lot of skill. An expert can remove the fleece in one piece without even nicking the skin of the sheep. Today power driven clippers are usually used.
Ranchers who raise sheep report that the animals are easily affected by many diseases. Bacteria and parasites can infect pastures, causing diseases to break out.
Sheep that are bred for their fine wool account for about half of the world's sheep population. Falling into this classification are many of the animals raised in the western United States, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Especially appealing is the semiarid conditions found in these regions, which is 3ust what the sheep rancher likes best.