260 THE LAMBING PERIOD 



cases have come to notice in which a ewe has taken one of a pair of 

 twins and has refused the other, an action which is scarcely trace- 

 able to lack of mother instinct. Again, a ewe may be very good to 

 her lamb for the first two or three days of its life and then turn 

 against it. It is not an uncommon occurrence for young ewes to 

 fail to claim their lambs, this being particularly noticeable in ewes 

 that are only a year old when the lambs are born. Such ewes 

 are not sufficiently mature to have the maternal instinct well 

 developed. 



The first duty of the shepherd toward the disowned lamb is to 

 try to make the mother claim it. As soon as the lamb is born it is a 



Fia. 174. A lamb blanket used in the West to avoid chilling. A young lamb thus blanketed 

 can withstand rough weather. 



good practice to take some of the mucus from its mouth and nose 

 and smear it over the nose of the ewe as a case of disowning may be 

 avoided in this way. For the first few days the ewe seems to recog- 

 nize her lamb solely by means of the sense of smell, and smearing 

 her nose with the mucus from the lamb seems to aid her in recog- 

 nizing it. If she refuses to own her lamb after it is dry she may 

 be induced to take it after some of her milk has been rubbed on the 

 lamb's rump and also on her nose. She turns her head to smell of 

 the lamb -when it is placed to the teat, and the odor of the milk 

 being both on her nose and on the lamb frequently serves to estab- 

 lish recognition of her offspring. In case the ewe seems undecided 

 whether or not to claim her lamb, another means for forcing her 

 to take it is to tie a strange dog in a pen next to the one in which 



