Sheep near a dry stone sheepfold

A pen is an enclosure for domestic animals. This is a list of animals that have been domesticated by Humans. Most common types of pens are pigpens, horse paddocks, cattle pens, and sheep pens.

A large pen for horses is called a paddock (USA, UK) or a corral (Western USA), a borrowing from the Spanish language. A small pen for horses (no more than 15-20 feet on any side) is a stall if inside a barn or stable, or simply a "pen" if it lacks any roof or shelter. A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace A stable is a Building in which Livestock, especially Horses are kept A large fenced field is called a "pasture," or, in some cases, "rangeland. "

A cattle pen is also sometimes called a corral.

In Australia and New Zealand a pen is a small enclosure for livestock (especially sheep or cattle), which is part of a larger construction, eg. calf pen, forcing pen (or yard) in sheep or cattle yards, or a sweating pen or catching pen in a shearing shed. In Australia, a "paddock" may encompass a large, fenced grazing area of many acres, not to be confused with the American English use of "paddock" as interchangable with "corral" or "pen," describing smaller, confined areas.

A sheep pen is also called a folding, sheepfold or sheepcote. Modern shepherds more commonly use terms such as closing or confinement pen for small sheep pens. Most structures today referred to as sheepfolds are ancient dry stone semicircles. Dry stone is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together

Constructions of pens vary, depending on purpose, animal type, and culture. Primitive pens in South Africa are called kraal. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Kraal (also spelled craal or kraul) is an Afrikaans and South African English word for an enclosure for Cattle or other livestock

References

"Macquarie Dictionary, The", 2nd edition, 1991

Gallery

Grass-fed cattle in pens, Walcha Saleyards	Family farm hog pen	A South African kraal	Curved cattle corrals
Curved force yard for cattle	Horses in a paddock or corral