Sheep milk

Sheep's milk (or ewe's milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. Though not widely drunk in any modern culture, sheep's milk is commonly used to make cultured dairy products. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano (the Italian word for sheep is pecore) and Ricotta of Italy. Yogurts, especially some forms of strained yogurt, may also be made from sheep milk. Though sheep produce a far smaller volume of milk than cows, it is richer in fat, solids, and minerals. This makes it ideal for the cheese-making process. It is not an alternative for people with (severe) lactose intolerance, due to the fact that it contains even more lactose than cow milk.

A minority of sheep breeds are kept primarily for dairy purposes, but these few have been selectively bred for milk production, and thus produce a higher volume than most other sheep. The most common and prolific dairy sheep breeds include the Lacaune, the East Friesian, and Awassi.

Nutrition by comparison

Milk composition analysis, per 100 grams:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- ! Constituents ! unit ! Cow ! Goat ! Sheep ! Water Buffalo |- | Water | g | 87.8 | 88.9 | 83.0 | 81.1 |- | Protein | g | 3.2 | 3.1 | 5.4 | 4.5 |- | Fat | g | 3.9 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 8.0 |- | Carbohydrate | g | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.9 |- | Energy | kcal | 66 | 60 | 95 | 110 |- | | kJ | 275 | 253 | 396 | 463 |- | Sugars (Lactose) | g | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 4.9 |- | Fatty Acids: |- | Saturated | g | 2.4 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 4.2 |- | Mono-unsaturated | g | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 1.7 |- | Polyunsaturated | g | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |- | Cholesterol | mg | 14 | 10 | 11 | 8 |- | Calcium | IU | 120 | 100 | 170 | 195 |}

See also

Goat milk

Moose milk

Asses' milk (Donkey's milk)

References

External links

Sheep dairying at sheep101.com

sheep dairying documentary by Cooking Up A Story

Category:Milk Category:Dairy farming