Sheep are a passive mob that supply wool when sheared or killed and can be dyed with any of the 16 colors before shearing to produce colored wool. Sheep are 1.25 blocks tall, 0.625 blocks wide and 1.4375 blocks long, and they naturally spawn in the following colors: white, black, gray, light gray, brown, and pink.
Before Beta 1.8, sheep despawned even if they were shorn.(verify this, citation not needed)
In Beta 1.9 Pre-releases 2—5, Sheep/Lambs spawned via animal breeding would always be white regardless of their parents' color. From Pre-release 6 and subsequent versions, the baby will take on the color of one of the parents. Having two parents of the same color assures a certain color offspring.
Sheep were originally planned to drop meat when killed.[1] As of the Beta 1.8 update and subsequent Pre-releases, which added rotten flesh, raw beef, and raw chicken as animal drops, sheep still have yet to be associated with any consumable item. Before the Beta 1.7 update, the Player did not need to kill sheep to obtain wool because hitting them, even with a non-damaging attack such as thrown Snowball or a fish hook from a Fishing Rod, would cause them to drop the wool. Now Sheep do not drop wool and enter the "shorn state" until the Player shears them.
Before Beta 1.9 Pre-release 3, Sheep's health was 5 hearts, and after 1.9 Pre3, it was changed to 4 hearts.
The Many Colors of Sheep
Natural (in order of rarity)
- WhiteSheep.png
White Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)*
81.836% - Lightgreysheep.png
Light Gray Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)
5% - GreySheep.png
Grey Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)
5% - BlackSheep.png
Black Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)
5% - Brown-sheep.png
Brown Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)
3% - Pink sheep.png
Pink Sheep
(Natural or Dyed)
0.164% - Xfdxfs My
*White was the original color before Beta 1.2.
Dyed Varieties
- Redsheep.png
Red Sheep
- OrangeSheep.png
Orange Sheep
- YellowSheep.png
Yellow Sheep
- Lime-sheep.png
Lime Sheep
- GreenSheep.png
Green Sheep
- LightBlueSheep.png
Light Blue Sheep
- CyanSheep.png
Cyan Sheep
- Bluesheep.png
Blue Sheep
- PurpleSheep.png
Purple Sheep
- MagentaSheep.png
Magenta Sheep
Gallery
- 2011-10-10 20.59.08.png
Brown, light grey, grey, and black sheep.
- 2011-10-06 19.38.00.png
A Baby Lamb in 1.9 Pre-Release 3.
- LostofSheep2.0.jpg
A large number of Sheep in 1.9 Pre-Release 5.
- LotsofSheep.jpg
A large number of Sheep in 1.9 Pre-Release 5 and RC2. The sheep were left alone and it appears they have bred in the time the player was absent.
Trivia
- Sheep were the second mob to spawn with both a separate body and armor file, the first being the pig; the sheep's "armored" state is wooly, while the pig's "armored" state is when they are wearing a saddle.
- After being shorn, all sheep (regardless of their original color), will have remnants of white wool color on their head and feet.
- Shorn sheep have a more slender head and exposed ears.
- If you damage the sheep 7 hits (3 1/2 hearts) you can get 5 wool blocks by clicking both mouse buttons at the same time while holding shears, though it requires practice as you have 1/20 of a second between each mouse click.
- If a sheep spawner is placed via hacking, there will be a black sheep model spinning inside, but it will spawn only the white ones.
- According to Notch on Twitter, feeding a sheep with wheat can "tame" them with a picture for proof.[2]
- The Sheep actually follow you if you have wheat in your hands.
Bugs
Sheep stuck in Grass and Tall Grass blocks, and it is dark since the light levels of both blocks are 0.
A very rare glitch where a sheep can get stuck in the ground can happen. This seems to happen because the sheep is a little bit taller than 1 block.
Offspring colors
If a two sheep are dyed, the offspring will be an unnatural color if that color is in one or both of the parents. As of 1.0 Sheep have yet to grow back wool.
Future
Jeb may add mutton (Mutton Chop?) to Minecraft.[3]
Notch stated that sheep and possibly other passive mobs will eat grass, then the blocks will become soil blocks.[citation needed] It was also stated that wool will regrow on sheep.[4]
References
See also
External links

