Do you know…

How a mother sheep recognizes her lamb?

She smells its back end. If the lamb smells wrong, she won’t let it feed from her. This can be a problem for a new-born lambs. If a mother does not bond with a lamb, she could reject it. That means she won’t let it feed from her and she won’t care for it as her own. The lamb would then be left to its own devices. These rejected lambs are often called “bummer” lambs.

Note: This is seen more with multiple births rather than single lambs. But it can also happen if humans interact too much with a lamb right after it is born. It is important for the mother and her new lamb or lambs to be alone together to familiarize themselves with the scent and sound of the other(s).

The bleat of the lamb. Just like the human voice, each sheep has a unique sound quality to their call. A simple “baaaahh” can sound different from each sheep depending upon its age and size. Some sheep calls have more vibrato to them. Some sound deep in tone or pitch. And other bleats are loud and obnoxious. But no matter the sound quality of the sheep itself, a mother or her young can always recognize the call of each other even among the calls of the rest of the herd.