When most people think of sheep, they don’t picture an animal with horns. That said, some sheep have horns and some do not. Some of the famous sheep with horns include Bighorns, Thinhorns, and Black Hawaiian Rams. Basically, whether or not a sheep has horns depends on its species, gender, age and environment.
Non-Polled Animals
Did you know that scientists have a term for sheep who have horns? They’d call them “non-polled” animals. This is kind of like how “non-fiction” means “real life stories” at a library. Thus, sheep without horns are called “polled.” But here’s where it gets tricky. What about sheep who don’t have visible horns yet they do have “scurs,” which are partially developed horns? As you can imagine, it can get a bit complicated, but this is a subject for another day.
Black Hawaiian Rams Have Amazing Horns
Tioga Ranch offers Black Hawaiian Ram hunts and these animals have great looking horns. Black Hawaiian Rams have horns which grow in a distinctive up-down-up shape– and some grow up to 40 inches in length. You would definitely want to display these trophy horns at your house or hunting lodge.
What more should you know about sheep horns? They’re actually hollow growths with a hard layer of keratinous over the top of them. Keratinous is basically a protein. And in the hollow parts of the horns? Sheep have blood running through the hollow parts of their horns!
Here’s something you could probably guess: the bigger the horns, the more likely the ram will act in a dominant fashion. The ram with the biggest horns is essentially “the leader of the pack.” Rams with bigger horns do better at reproduction– well, they “have more success” to put it nicely.
And, finally, some sheep breeds have two pairs of horns instead of one. So if you see a sheep with four horns, that’s normal for that particular breed.