SHEEP & GOAT ARE AS DIFFERENT AS MUTTON & CHEVON

Sheep and goat are two different species. They look different and their chromosome compositions are not the same. That is why you can’t crossbreed the two animals.  The simplest and most effective visual way of separating goats from sheep, is the carriage of the tail – in all domestic forms, goats’ tails are erect while those of sheep are pendent.  Sheep and goat meat are also classified differently. Sheep meat is called mutton while goat meat is chevon. Most Malaysians mistake mutton for goat meat. Another misconception is the assumption that the goat is a local animal while all sheep are imported. A sheep species called "malin" is indigenous to Malaysia, while the local goat species is "kambing kajang (katjang)".  

Characteristically, the two animals although grouped as small ruminants that are various hoofed, even-toed mammals are as dissimilar as a ram and a buck (male goat).  The goat is more independent than a sheep. Just compare their eating styles: a goat will browse, picking leaves here and grass there, while a sheep will graze, putting its head down like a cow and feeding on the grass available in its path. The sheep is cowardly and is easy to manage as it has flocking instinct. That’s why a dog can herd a flock of sheep. But the goat is very smart as it chooses its own path, making it difficult to herd. Similarly, compared to the docile sheep, the goat is difficult to confine as it will “climb here and climb there. In his observation of goats, they are independent, outgoing, intelligent, aggressive, adventurous and choosy while sheep are the opposite.  

Lamb, hogget, and mutton are the meat of domestic sheep. The meat of an animal in its first year is lamb; that of an older sheep is hogget and later mutton.

In New Zealand for example, they are defined as follows:

• Lamb — a young sheep under 12 months of age which does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear;
• Hogget — a young male sheep or maiden ewe having no more than two permanent incisors in wear;
• Mutton — a female (ewe) or castrated male (wether) sheep having more than two permanent incisors in wear.
  

Sheep farming experts generally agree that mutton refers to meat from sheep that are over two years old (lamb meat is generally from animals that have been reared for five months). Traditionalists argue that mutton is always the meat from a wether (a wether is a castrated male sheep; it is thought that castration improves the taste of some meats). A more contemporary view is that mutton comes from a breeding ewe that has reached the end of its productive life. According to William Kitchiner in The Housekeeper’s Oracle (1817), the finest mutton came from a five-year-old wether. (www.muttonrenaissance.org.uk)

What is Chevon? "Chevon" is a French term used to describe the meat and prepared dishes that come from a very high quality young finished meat goat. Chevon has been a delicacy in France and Europe for thousands of years. Sixty-three percent of red meat consumed in the world is goat, where ninety-five percent of the world's countries are major consumers of goat meat. Latin cultures call it "cabra" or "cabrito". Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African, Australian, Central American, South American, and Asian cultures all incorporate goat meat into their regular diets. 

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