Sheep
| Sheep | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Farming and Animals |
| Type | Livestock |
| Life Stages |
|
| Breeds |
|
| Smallest Pen | 40 tiles |
| Pregnancy | 147 days |
| Mating Season | September to February |
| Products |
|
| Food |
|
| Old Age | 3600 days |
The Sheep is a farm animal that gives a survivor wool, milk and mutton. It is the only animal in the game that grows wool, so a flock is the long term answer to cloth and yarn.
Sheep are livestock. They live on farms, pastures and ranches, and they stay near people instead of fleeing. Young sheep are Lambs. A female Lamb grows into a Ewe, and a male grows into a Ram. Ewes give milk and lambs, and both Ewes and Rams grow wool.
The game has three breeds, and each one leans toward a different product. The Suffolk is a meat breed, heavy and meaty, with a dark head and legs. The Rambouillet is the wool breed, and it grows a thick fleece quickly. The East Friesian is the dairy breed and gives the most milk. Rambouillet and East Friesian sheep are both white and look alike.
Sheep matter because they keep giving while alive. A Ewe can be milked, and every adult can be sheared again and again. A flock with a Ram also renews itself. Spare animals still give good mutton and a hide at the end.
How to Raise Sheep
Sheep live inside a livestock zone. The zone helps them find food, water and shelter, and it keeps them from wandering. Adult Ewes need about twice the room of Lambs.
Sheep graze on usable grass inside the zone. They also eat animal feed, hay, vegetables and fruit from a feeding trough. Water goes in a separate trough. Lambs feed from their mother. A Lamb can also be fed Sheep's Milk by hand. Hay and Grass Cuttings both work as lures for leading a sheep.
Rain stresses sheep of every age. A roofed shelter inside the pen keeps the flock calm, and a roof matters more than walls. Being kept above ground level stresses them too. Nearby zombies, gunfire, crowding and slaughter in sight of the flock add more.
Petting a sheep raises its trust and lowers its stress. Petting, milking and shearing all train the Animal Care skill. Rams attack when stressed and fight back when hit. A Ram's charge can knock a person down and leave cuts.
Sheep of every age can be led on a rope to a new zone, a post or a livestock trailer. Lambs can also be picked up and carried. Every sheep leaves Sheep Dung in the pen, and the dung makes good compost.
Sheep Breeding
A Lamb grows into an adult in about six months of game time. Rams can breed as soon as they are grown. Ewes can breed from about seven months of age. Sheep mate from September through February, across autumn and winter. The breeding season can be switched off in the sandbox settings.
A pregnancy lasts about five months. The pregnancy time can be changed in the sandbox settings. After a Lamb is born, the Ewe rests for about twelve weeks before she can carry again.
Genes pass from both parents. They shape size, meat, weight, lifespan, milk, strength, fertility, temper and wool. Each breed is pushed toward its own strengths. A Rambouillet Lamb tends to grow a lot of wool, and a Suffolk Lamb tends to grow meaty. Sheep live for about ten years before they reach old age.
The sheep grows through these stages, each one taking the days shown to reach full size.
| Stage | Image | Grows For | Becomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamb | 
|
180 days | Ewe, Ram |
| Ewe |
|
360 days | - |
| Ram |
|
360 days | - |
Sheep Breeds
Each breed of sheep, with how much meat, milk, wool and size the game sets for it.
| Breed | Image | Meat | Milk | Wool | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk |
|
High | Low | Medium | High |
| Rambouillet | 
|
Medium | Low | High | - |
| East Friesian |
|
Medium | High | Medium | - |
Sheep Products
Wool is the reason to keep sheep. Every adult grows Raw Wool over time. Shearing needs shears, either the manual kind or electric shears. Electric shears do the job faster. Shears turn up in barns and tool stores. Rambouillets grow wool the fastest and hold the most. A stressed sheep may pull away during shearing, and higher Animal Care makes that less likely.
A Ewe makes Sheep's Milk a few days after she becomes pregnant. East Friesians give a lot, while Suffolks and Rambouillets give only a little. After the Lamb is born, the milk dries up within days if the Ewe is neither milked nor nursing. Milking needs a fluid container such as a bucket. Higher Animal Care also raises the yield of both milk and wool.
What a living sheep gives without being butchered.
| Product | Name | Image | How | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | Sheep's Milk | - | Milked from a Ewe | - |
| Wool | Raw Wool | 
|
Sheared from a Suffolk | /additem Base.WoolRaw
|
Sheep Butchering
A sheep carcass gives Mutton Chops, Animal Sinew, bones, a head, a skull and an unprocessed hide. Adults give a mix of Bone Pieces, Animal Bones and Large Animal Bones. Lambs give fewer chops and mostly Bone Pieces.
Adults drop a Sheep Hide, and Lambs drop a smaller Lamb Hide. Ewes and Rams each have their own head and skull.
A Butcher Hook is needed to get the hide from a sheep. The hook also raises the amount of meat and other material. The final yield depends on the animal's size, its meat genes, the age of the carcass and the Butchering skill. A Suffolk gives the most meat for its size. Slaughter belongs out of sight of the living flock.
What a butchered carcass gives at each life stage, one tab per stage.
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Pieces | 
|
5-10 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Animal Bone | 
|
0-2 | All | /additem Base.AnimalBone
|
| Lamb Hide (Unprocessed) | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.LambLeather_Full
|
| Lamb Head | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Sheep_Lamb_Head_White
|
| Lamb Skull | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Lamb_Skull
|
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Pieces |
|
2-4 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Animal Bone |
|
3-7 | All | /additem Base.AnimalBone
|
| Large Animal Bone | 
|
1-2 | All | /additem Base.LargeAnimalBone
|
| Sheep Hide (Unprocessed) |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.SheepLeather_Full
|
| Ewe Head | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Sheep_Ewe_Head_White
|
| Sheep Skull | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Sheep_Skull
|
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Pieces |
|
2-4 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Animal Bone |
|
3-7 | All | /additem Base.AnimalBone
|
| Large Animal Bone |
|
1-2 | All | /additem Base.LargeAnimalBone
|
| Sheep Hide (Unprocessed) |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.SheepLeather_Full
|
| Ram Head |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Sheep_Ram_Head_White
|
| Ram Skull |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Ram_Skull
|
Sheep Locations
Sheep start on farms, pastures, barns and ranches across Knox Country. Standard sheep farms keep a few Ewes with one Ram. Small farms keep only a Ewe or two. Large sheep farms keep a bigger flock with a single Ram. Some mixed farms roll sheep, cattle or pigs when the map is made. Sheep can also turn up inside livestock trailers.
The farms that start with sheep, by size, and how many females and males each one holds.
| Farm Size | Females | Males |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 1 to 3 | 1 to 1 |
| Small | 1 to 2 | 1 to 0 |
| Large | 3 to 8 | 1 to 1 |
Notes
- Rambouillets are the best wool breed, and East Friesians the best milk breed.
- Suffolks give the most mutton.
- Shear adults whenever their fleece has grown back.
- Build a roofed shelter, since rain stresses the flock.
- Breed in autumn and winter, the only season sheep mate.
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