SHEEP
A lamb, after about 148 days
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a lamb as a young sheep. Texas A&M's ranchers' reference puts sheep gestation at about 148 days.
Compare the waitStart
THE FARMYARD'S YOUNGEST
Small, new
and very wobbly.
Every farm animal's young has its own name.
A young sheep is a lamb, a young cow a calf, a baby pig a piglet, a young goat a kid and a young horse a foal. Each takes a very different time to arrive: from about 115 days for piglets to nearly a year for a foal.
148 DAYSfor a lamb
Compare the waitKeep in mind
- Lamb, calf, piglet
- Kid and foal
- From 115 to 336 days
- Every species keeps its own clock
THE SHORT ANSWER
Different names,
different waits.
The words come from the dictionary.
The waiting times come from farm science.
PIGS
Three months, three weeks, three days
The UK vet network NADIS says a sow's pregnancy is typically 115 days, with 113 to 117 quite normal. The young are piglets.
See the numbers
HORSES
A foal, after nearly a year
A foal is a young horse. At about 336 days, horses have the longest wait of the common farm animals listed by Texas A&M.
Word factsHOW LONG IS THE WAIT?
Pick an animal,
see the days.
Choose a farm animal to see what its young are called and roughly how long the mother is pregnant. The bar shows how long the wait is compared with the others.
Approximate gestation periods from Texas A&M's Ranchers' Reference Guide; pigs from NADIS and Penn State Extension. Individual animals vary.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Shortest wait,
longest wait.
One figure from the pig pen,
one from the paddock.
115 days
Typical sow pregnancy
NADIS says a sow or gilt's normal gestation is typically 115 days from the first day of service, with 113 to 117 days quite normal.
PIGS · NADIS
336 days
Approximate horse gestation
Texas A&M's reference guide lists horses at about 336 days, against 283 for cattle, 151 for goats and 148 for sheep.
HORSES · TEXAS A&M
NADIS notes that the signal for a sow to start giving birth comes from the piglets, not the sow, as the litter starts to outgrow its supply from the placenta.
FOUR WORD FACTS
Names worth
remembering.
The dictionary has a few surprises tucked into these everyday farm words.
Step 1
A calf is not only a cow's
Cambridge says calf also means the young of other large mammals, such as elephants and whales.
Step 2
A kid is a young goat
Cambridge lists 'a young goat' as one meaning of kid, alongside the everyday sense of a young person.
Step 3
Piglet means baby pig
Cambridge defines a piglet simply as a baby pig. A litter grows together for about 115 days.
Step 4
Goslings are geese
A gosling is a young goose, one of the farmyard birds with a name of its own.
THE 3-3-3 RULE
Three months, three weeks,
three days.
Pig keepers remember a sow's pregnancy as three months, three weeks and three days. Both Penn State Extension and NADIS give the same figure: about 115 days.
Penn State notes that each piglet grows with its own placenta, which keeps each one separate from the rest of the litter while they develop.
Questions
Questions on the way
What is a baby sheep called?
A lamb. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a lamb as a young sheep.
What is a baby goat called?
A kid. Cambridge defines this sense of kid as a young goat.
How long is a sheep pregnant?
About 148 days, according to Texas A&M's Ranchers' Reference Guide. Goats are similar at about 151 days.
How long is a pig pregnant?
Typically 115 days, or three months, three weeks and three days, according to NADIS and Penn State Extension. NADIS says 113 to 117 days is quite normal.
Which farm animal is pregnant longest?
Of the animals here, horses: about 336 days, compared with about 283 days for cattle.
Destination