Poindron P, Le Neindre P, Raksanyi I, Trillat G, Orgeur P
Reprod Nutr Dev (1980). 1980;20(3B):817-26. doi: 10.1051/rnd:19800508.
The role played by the lamb in the regulation of maternal behaviour of the ewe around parturition was investigated in three experiments. In the first, the spontaneous manifestation of that behaviour was observed in parturient ewes when their lambs were swapped with either newborn or 12 to 24-hr old alien lambs. The ewes were undisturbed, or only slightly so, when their lambs were exchanged for alien newborn. In contrast, very obvious and significant differences were observed when swapping involved 12 to 24-hr old lambs. In the second experiment, ewes totally separated from their lambs at birth and for 12 hrs accepted a newborn alien lamb more readily than their own 12-hr old lamb at the time of reunion. In the third experiment, ewes were maintained in partial contact with their lambs for 12 hrs and maternal behaviour was tested at that time. The ewes remained maternal up to the time of testing only if they could smell their lambs. It was concluded that some characteristics of the newborn lamb are necessary for the development of adequate maternal behaviour.
在三个实验中研究了羔羊在调节母羊分娩前后母性行为中的作用。在第一个实验中，当将母羊的羔羊与新生或12至24小时大的外来羔羊交换时，观察了分娩母羊这种行为的自发表现。当母羊的羔羊被换成外来新生羔羊时，母羊不受干扰，或只是稍有干扰。相比之下，当交换涉及12至24小时大的羔羊时，观察到非常明显和显著的差异。在第二个实验中，出生时与羔羊完全分开12小时的母羊，在重聚时比自己12小时大的羔羊更容易接受新生外来羔羊。在第三个实验中，母羊与羔羊保持部分接触12小时，并在那时测试母性行为。只有当母羊能闻到自己羔羊的气味时，它们在测试时才会保持母性。得出的结论是，新生羔羊的某些特征对于充分发展母性行为是必要的。
