# What Do Domestic Sheep Eat?

> What domestic sheep eat: Herbivore — grasses, forbs, and hay, foraging style, and seasonal shifts in Pasture and rangeland on every inhabited continent.

- **Species:** Domestic Sheep (*Ovis aries*)
- **Conservation status:** Domesticated
- **Diet:** Herbivore — grasses, forbs, and hay
- **Habitat:** Pasture and rangeland on every inhabited continent
- **Lifespan:** 10–12 years (longer for pet sheep)
- **Top speed:** Up to 40 km/h (25 mph) in flight
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/sheep/what-do-sheep-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/sheep/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The domestic sheep is one of the oldest and most widespread of all livestock, kept for wool, meat, and milk on pasture across every inhabited continent. A gentle, flock-living herbivore that grazes on grasses, forbs, and hay, it weighs anywhere from 45 to 160 kg depending on breed and stands about 1.2 m long. Domestic sheep usually live 10 to 12 years, and pet animals can live longer.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## Origins and domestication

The domestic sheep was one of the first animals humans ever tamed, descended from wild mouflon in the Near East around 10,000 years ago. Early flocks were kept mainly for meat, milk, and skins, with woolly fleeces developing gradually through selective breeding. From these beginnings the sheep spread with farming peoples across Europe, Asia, and eventually the whole world. Today it is one of the most numerous livestock animals on the planet, raised on pasture and rangeland everywhere people farm.

## Help protect the Domestic Sheep

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/sheep/what-do-sheep-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.