ORANGE COUNTY ZOO
Photo courtesy of
Irvine Park Railroad
At the Zoo
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The Orange County Zoo is
owned and operated by the
County
of Orange, California.
Web page produced by the
Orange County Zoological Society,
Copyright 2005.
Domestic Sheep
Ovis aries
The Orange County Zoo has the following breeds
of domestic sheep: Jacob and Cheviot.
Both male and female Jacob sheep are
horned. They have two, four and occasionally six horns. The four-horned rams
have two vertical center horns as much as two feet long, and two side horns
curling down along the side of the head. Horns on the ewe are always shorter
and more delicate.
The Jacob fleece, white with black spots, is prized by hand spinners and weavers. The black wool grows out of black skin, and the white wool grows from white skin.
The Jacob sheep is a
British breed. The black and white coloring may
have originated with Moorish
sheep brought from Spain or Africa and their four-horned characteristics from
Norse sheep from Scandinavia and the northern Scottish islands.
The Cheviot sheep originated in the Cheviot Hills, on the border of England and Scotland. They have been recognized as a hardy sheep as early as 1372. The breed was introduced into the United States in 1838 from their native Scotland. The Cheviot is a white-faced sheep, with a wool-free face and legs, pricked ears, black muzzle and black feet. The Cheviot is hornless.