What is the Difference Between Lamb, Goat, Mutton, and Sheep?

Lamb is a younger sheep, while mutton is the ‘meat from a fully grown sheep. Meat that belongs to a sheep between the ages of one month and one year is lamb, while sheep older than one year are termed mutton.

The differences between lamb, goat, mutton, and sheep, including how to tell them what is what, and other key information, will all be covered in this article. You’ll soon be able to differentiate between a lamb, goat, mutton, and sheep without a second thought! Now let’s dive in and find out more.

Goat

A domesticated goat is an animal that people usually raise as livestock. Wild goats in Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia are where the domesticated goat was found first. Sheep and goats have a close relationship. Goats come in 300 different breeds, according to current estimates.

The goat is likely to succeed in a fight between sheep because sheep get scared in times of threat. Compared to sheep, goats are more aggressive and active. Most importantly, mountain goat horns can tear sheep’s flesh because they are powerful and razor-sharp.

Sheep

Sheep are ruminant breeds of domesticated mammals that are kept as livestock. Sheep are members of the Artiodactyla animal order, along with goats and all other ruminants.

Sheep and goats are both cud-chewing mammals. Sheep are kept and raised for their milk, fleece, and meat. Sheep are stockier and have more contrasting horns than goats. On their faces and hind feet, sheep also have smell glands. Male sheep have shorter tails and no beards in comparison to male goats. Wild sheep have an exterior layer of fur underneath what appears to be hair.

Lamb

Lambs are young, immature sheep that are under a year old. As a result, they are kinder and smaller than sheep. Instead of being known as mutton, young sheep’s meat is also known as a lamb.

Difference Between Goat, Mutton, Sheep, and Lamb

Mutton is called “meat from a fully grown sheep,” whereas lamb is a young sheep. Lamb is the term for a sheep between the ages of one month and one year, and mutton is the term for meat from a sheep older than one year. On the other hand, a lamb’s age is about under a year old.

The main difference between a goat, sheep, and lamb is that a goat is a livestock animal with a pointed-up tail, but a sheep has a tail that hangs down. Sheep are domesticated animals, and lambs are sheep under a year old.

Several visual and physical characteristics can differentiate a lamb or sheep from a goat.

Goat Vs. Lamb: Age Difference

Age is a big factor that differentiates goats and lambs. When they are young, sheep are called lambs, usually under a year old, and goats are called goats no matter their age. Since young goats are sometimes referred to as kids, comparing lambs and goats naturally raises questions about their age.

A lamb’s look may differ from a goat’s due to its different ages. Even though estimating a goat’s age can be challenging, lambs usually look younger than sheep.

Goat Vs. Lamb: Difference between fur type

The varieties of fur that lambs and goats have are another big difference. While lambs are only starting to develop their distinctive wool, goats already have a hairy coat. Even though lambs don’t have highly thick coats until they are adults, you can still identify goat hair from lamb wool.

For instance, goat hair is coarse and varies in length, while wool is dense and silky. Given their age, all lambs have shorter wool than their adult sheep counterparts, and some goats have very long hair while others have short hair. Most lambs attain their peak wool production as adults, and the ideal wool age is between 3 and 5 years.

Goat Vs. Lamb: Difference between horns

The horns of goats and lambs differ significantly from one another. Though some goats do have horns, lambs never do. Similar to goats, sheep can develop horns as they age, although lambs do not until they are well into adulthood.

Even if adult lambs eventually get horns, they will still look significantly different from goat horns. For instance, although goats have horns on their heads, many sheep grow their horns on the sides of their skulls. Goat horns are frequently pointed or have unusual shapes, although sheep horns can also be rounder.

Goat Vs. Lamb: Difference between the tail

One of the big differences is how a lamb’s tail looks compared to a goat’s tail. The direction of a goat’s tail is upward and is more slender and bushy than lamb and sheep tails, which face downward and are usually thick and wooly.

Given that goats usually have erect, active tails, this can be a key factor in distinguishing between lambs and goats. For the sake of the health and safety of the lambs, their tails are usually clipped at an early age. The same is true for goats which experience fewer health problems with their tails, unlike sheep.

Goat Vs. Lamb: Difference between diet

The diet of goats and lambs is the final big difference. Goats are mature enough to manage their diet, whereas lambs get a fair bit of it from drinking milk from their mothers. However, like goats, even lambs start eating foods that are solid within the first several months of life.

Another difference between goats and lambs is what they prefer to eat. Lambs and sheep are grazers, and goats are browsers, which refers to their need to eat everything they come across. At their eye line, goats usually eat herbs, twigs, leaves, and shrubs. Sheep and lambs feed on the grasses that are present on the ground.

Conclusion

The animal’s age is the main difference between mutton and lamb meat. Lamb is the meat of a young animal who is around a year older or so, whereas mutton belongs to the meat of an older animal, usually which are around three years old.