Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France).

Sheep breeds

Specialized dairy breeds of sheep yield more milk than other breeds. Common dairy breeds include: * East Friesian (Germany) *

Sarda Sarda may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * Sarda (Albanian Sardë), a ruined ancient town, on Shurdhah Island in northern Albania. * The former Diocese of Sarda, now a Latin Catholic titular see * Sarda river, a river which forms part of t ...

(Italy) *

Lacaune Lacaune (; , meaning ''the cave'') is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called the Lacaunais (los Cauneses in Occitan). Geography The river Gijou has its source in the commune. History In 1797, the fer ...

(France) * British Milk Sheep (UK) * Chios (Greece) * Awassi (Syria) * Assaf (Israel) *

Zwartbles The Zwartbles is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the Friesland region of the north Netherlands. There it was primarily used for the production of sheep milk as well as lamb and mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep mea ...

(Friesland, Netherlands) In the U.S., the most common dairy breeds are the East Friesian and the Lacaune. Meat or wool breeds do not produce as much milk as dairy breeds, but may produce enough for small amounts of cheese and other products.

Milk production period

Female sheep (ewes) do not produce milk constantly. Rather, they produce milk during the 80–100 days after lambing. Sheep naturally breed in the fall, which means that a majority of lambs are born in the winter or early spring. Milk production decreases and eventually stops when lambs are weaned or when the days become shorter. This means that milk cannot be produced year round. Through the use of

controlled internal drug release Controlled internal drug release (CIDR) devices are used in livestock for the synchronization of estrus. They are T-shaped devices with a silicone-coated nylon core. The silicone coating is impregnated with progesterone. CIDRs are inserted intra- ...

(CIDR), ewes can be bred out of season. CIDR drugs contain

progesterone Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the m ...

, which is slowly released into the bloodstream, bringing the animal into estrus. In this way, ewes can be bred at different times throughout the year, providing farms with a year-round supply of milk. Meat and wool breeds of sheep lactate for 90–150 days, while dairy breeds can lactate for 120–240 days. Dairy sheep are able to produce higher yields of milk per ewe per year. Dairy sheep can produce of milk per year while other sheep produce of milk per year. Crossbred ewes produce of milk per year.

Products made from sheep milk

Sheep milk cheese Sheep milk cheese is a cheese prepared from sheep milk. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano and Ricotta of Italy. Yogurts, especially some forms of st ...

s include the feta of Greece, Roquefort of France,

Manchego Manchego (officially es, queso manchego, ) is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. It is aged between 60 days and 2 years. Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery textu ...

of Spain; Serra da Estrela from Portugal; pecorino Romano (the Italian word for sheep is ''pecora''), pecorino Sardo, and ricotta of Italy;

Pag cheese Pag cheese or Pag Island cheese ( hr, Paški sir, ) is a Croatian variety of hard, distinctively flavored sheep milk cheese originating from the Adriatic island of Pag. It is generally regarded as the most famous of all artisan cheeses made in the ...

of Croatia;

Ġbejna Ġbejna (, plural ''ġbejniet'') is the diminutive of the Maltese word ġobna, which means "cheese"; it is synonymous with the Maltese English word "cheeselet", i.e. "little cheese". The rest of the article describes 'Ġbejna tan-nagħaġ', a ty ...

of Malta; and Gomolya of Hungary; and

Bryndza Bryndza (from Romanian ''brânză'' cheese) is a sheep milk cheese made across much of East-Central Europe, primarily in or around the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and southern Poland. Bryndza cheese is creamy white in app ...

(''Slovenská bryndza'' from Slovakia, brânza de burduf from Romania and '' Bryndza Podhalańska'' from Poland). In Greece, yogurt is often made from sheep's milk.

Nutrition by comparison

Milk composition analysis, per 100 grams: : Sheep milk is extremely high in fat and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and has a high level of solids, as compared to other milks. This makes it very suitable for cheese-making. In particular, sheep's milk produces much more cheese than the same amount of cow's milk.

References

External links