A shepherd is a person who tends to, feeds or guards sheep, especially in flocks. The word may also refer to one who provides religious guidance, as a pastor.

Origins
Welcome to CWAnswers
CWAnswers is your guide to the sprawling world wide web. The directory aims to provide a useful guide made by users. You can share your knowledge as well - simply sign up and edit your first entry. For questions just contact the team at support - at - cwanswers.com.
Weblinks for Shepherd
Top 10 for Shepherd
Things about Shepherd you find nowhere else.
Select content modules
Reginald Shepherd's Blog
... National Book Critics Circle, NBCC, Orpheus in the Bronx, Reginald Shepherd ... of this blog are probably by now aware, Reginald Shepherd died September 10 ...reginaldshepherd.blogspot.com/The Shepherd Press Blog
Shepherding Resources ... The Shepherd Press Blog. Shepherding Resources for God's Flock ... The Shepherd Press Blog has been moved to a new location: ...www.shepherding.typepad.com/TIFFANY SHEPHERD Blog- All about everyones Favorite Bikini Biology ...
It seems Tiffany Shepherd is taking the attention garnered from this unfortunate ... Blog Archive. 2009 (3) March (2) TIFFANY SHEPHERD GETTING MARRIED ...tiffanyshepherd.blogspot.com/Aaron Shepherd's Blog
Aaron Shepherd's Blog. Photo albums. Banff. July 2007. listening to. Jimmy Buffett. BB King ... My Blog. Profile. Name: Aaron Shepherd ...aaronshepherd.com/Ken Shepherd's blog | NewsBusters.org
Ken Shepherd's blog. Amy Sullivan: Not Even the Vatican Cares About Obama's Notre Dame Speech ... noted in an April 30 post at the Times' The Caucus blog: ...newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherdA shepherd is a person who tends to, feeds or guards sheep, especially in flocks. The word may also refer to one who provides religious guidance, as a pastor.

Origins
Some sheep were integrated in the family farm along with other animals such as pigs and chickens. To maintain a large herd, however, the sheep must be able to move from pasture to pasture, this required the development of a profession separate from that of the farmer. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators. The shepherd was also to supervise the migration of the flock and ensured they made it to market areas in time for shearing. In ancient times shepherds also commonly milked their sheep, and made cheese from this milk; only some shepherds still do this today.

In many societies shepherds were an important part of the economy. Unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds also lived apart from society, being largely nomadic. It was mainly a job of solitary males without children, and new shepherds thus needed to be recruited externally. Shepherds were most often the younger sons of farming peasants who did not inherit any land. Still in other societies, each family would have a family member to shepherd its flock, often a child, youth or an elder who couldn't help much with harder work; these shepherds were fully integrated in society.
Shepherds would normally work in groups either looking after one large flock, or each bringing their own and merging their responsibilities. They would live in small cabins, often shared with their sheep and would buy food from local communities. Less often shepherds lived in covered wagons that traveled with their flocks.
Shepherding developed only in certain areas. In the lowlands and river valleys, it was far more efficient to grow grains and cereals than to allow sheep to graze, thus the raising of sheep was confined to rugged and mountainous areas. In the pre-modern times shepherding was thus centered on regions such as the Land of Israel, Greece, the Pyrenees, the Carpathian Mountains, and Scotland.
In modern times
In modern times shepherding has changed dramatically. The abolition of common lands in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth century moved shepherding from independent nomads to employees of massive estates. Some families in Africa and Asia have their wealth in sheep, so a young son is sent out to guard them while the rest of the family tend to other chores.
Wages are higher than was the case in the past. Keeping a shepherd in constant attendance can be costly. Also, the eradication of sheep predators in parts of the world have lessened the need for shepherds. In countries like Britain, hardy breeds of sheep are frequently left alone without a shepherd for long periods of time. More productive breeds of sheep can be left in fields and moved periodically to fresh pasture when necessary. Hardier breeds of sheep can be left on hillsides. The sheep farmer will attend to the sheep when necessary at times like lambing or shearing.

























