66 



THE NATURE OF SHEEP 



has been observed that the period of gestation for Rambouillet and 

 American Merino ewes is more frequently one hundred and fifty-two 

 than one hundred and forty-six days. And one hundred and forty- 

 four days has been given as the normal period for Southdowns. 

 From this it would seem that breed may be the cause of some varia- 

 tion in the length of the period of pregnancy. 



It is common for each ewe to give birth to one or two lambs. 

 Occasionally a ewe has three lambs at one parturition period, and 

 there are instances of even more, but since the ewe has but two 

 teats that function (in rare cases there are four), she is not well 



FIG. 35. A capacious, matronly type of ewe capable, as the photograph shows, of taking 

 good care of a pair of lambs. 



prepared to take care of more than two lambs. By carefully select- 

 ing parent stock, promoters of certain breeds have succeeded in 

 developing ee stock having a marked tendency to produce twins 

 (Fig. 35). 



Recognition of Young. A ewe recognizes her new-born lamb 

 wholly through the sense of smell, but in a few days she can dis- 

 tinguish it at sight. In cases of perplexity, however, she always 

 relies on her nose for recognition. Apparently the odor by which a 

 ewe identifies her newly-born offspring is due to something coming 

 from her, for in case she refuses to own her lamb she may be in- 

 duced to receive it (but not always), by placing some of her milk 



