LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sheep
built 649 days ago
Sheep dipping was made compulsory twice a year in 1985 but made non-compulsory again in 1992. Sheep dips contain toxic organophosphates (OP’s) which are believed to be responsible for a high incidence of severe illness in farmers. Sheep dip products safeguard sheep from pests like scab, blowfly, ticks and lice. Sheep dipping is a particular priority for Groundwater Protection Code since misuse of sheep dip has caused serious environmental damage in the past. The active ingredients of dip are generally highly toxic to aquatic life. The Regulations require that before disposing, or tipping for the purpose of disposal, a listed dangerous substance to land, authorisation should be obtained from the Environment Agency to prevent substances from entering groundwater(1).
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Sheep are exclusively herbivorous mammals. Like all ruminants, sheep have a complex digestive system composed of four chambers, allowing them to break down cellulose from stems, leaves, and seed hulls into simpler carbohydrates. When sheep graze, vegetation is chewed into a mass called a bolus, which is then passed into the first chamber: the rumen. The rumen is a 5- to 10-gallon (19–38 l) organ which ferments feed via a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium, protozoa, and yeasts of the gut flora.[24] The bolus is periodically regurgitated back to the mouth as cud for additional chewing and salivation.[24] Cud chewing is an adaptation allowing ruminants to graze more quickly in the morning, and then fully chew and digest feed later in the day.[25] This is beneficial as grazing, which requires lowering the head, leaves sheep vulnerable to predators, while cud chewing does not.[12]
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Sheep breeds have outlasted civilizations. The Merino, which has come to dominate high-quality wool production today in Australia, the world's top wool exporter, may date to the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius in the first century C.E. Many in the sheep industry believe that the breed was developed then in what is now Spain when breeders crossed the Roman Taren-tine breed with the Laodician sheep of Asia Minor. When the Romans reached Britain, other sheep breeds were already there. The Romans built Britain's first woolen mill in Winchester in about 50 C.E. In the centuries that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, both Britain and Spain dominated wool production.
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Sheep typically have a long, fairly narrow muzzle and pointed ears. The length of the head and body averages about 1.5 m (about 5 ft), with a short tail, and an adult may weigh 75 to 200 kg (165 to 440 lb). In the wild, the animals are nimble runners and climbers. The female bears up to three young after a gestation period of about 150 days. Sheep live as long as 20 years.
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Sheep Wool Insulation are very proud to have been awarded at the Product of the Show Awards in the R.D.S. in Dublin. The awards were judged by the distinguished founding members of EASCA, Duncan Stewart - Architect & Television Presenter, Prof. Tom Wooley - Head of Green Building Research Centre at Queens University, Paul Leech - Architect & Engineer at GAIA Ecotecture and Jeff Colley - Editor of Construct Ireland magazine. Pictured is Jeff Colley, Dick Roche - Minister for the Environment, David Pierce of Sheep Wool Insulation and Michael Madagan, Head of Property Finance, Ulster Bank.
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Sheep bred for their fine wool account for nearly half the world sheep population. They are adapted to semiarid conditions and are characterized as medium in size, with the ability to produce large amounts of wool fibers 20 micrometers or less in diameter. Found extensively in Australia, New Zealand, South America, and the western United States, most sheep of this type belong to the merino breed, which originated in the Mediterranean area and became concentrated in Spain. The breed... has been modified and adapted to the conditions prevalent in various countries, and the different subtypes are usually called merinos combined with the name of their adopted country—for example, the Australian merino. The Rambouillet, similar to the merino, is the other major breed of fine-wool sheep.
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