Thirty three ewes (10 Ossimi, 11 Barki and 12 Rahmani) with their lambs and
eighteen does (10 Zaraibi, 5 Damascus and 3 Alpine) with their kids were used to
compare between sheep and goats in different maternal and neonatal behaviour
displays. Displays were recorded at three phases, a) during the first hour after birth, b)
at one week after parturition and c) at two months after parturition. Animals belonged
to the sheep and goat farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University. At first hour after birth, does were physically more efficient at parturition than
ewes. Ewes took 1.3 min more than does to expel foetus after appearance of head at
the vaginal orifice. Ewes stood for the first time after delivery, 10.5 min later than
does. Does began sniffing and licking their kids 1.5 min before ewes did. However,
sheep seem to exnibit expression of maternal behaviour more than goats. Compared
with does, ewes spent longer time and performed more repeated licking to their
lambs, more time and greater number of nursing bouts. Moreover, ewes achieved
more care giving displays (higher rate of low - pitched bleats) and less repeated
searching behaviour for lambs (lower rate of high - pitched bleats) than does. During one hour whether after the 1 st week of birth or at 2 months after
parturition, ewes spent more time and frequency of licking the lamb's body, more time
and number of nursing bouts than does did. Furthermore, does rejected their kids
more frequently than ewes did. It was generally observed that maternal and neonatal
behaviours gradually faded throughout the 2^nd and 3'd phases. The attained results revealed that the mother - young attachment in sheep is
stronger than in goats.