Behaviour of twin- and triplet-born lambs and their dam 3 to 18 hours after birth is not a useful predictor of lamb survival to weaning

An experiment was designed to determine if behaviour traits expressed by twin- and triplet-bearing lambs and their dams at 3-18 hours of age (after the immediate ewe-lamb bonding had occurred) were associated with lamb survival to weaning. The behaviour of twin and triplet lambs and their dams was assessed in the paddock at 3-18 hours after birth. Observations were made of the number of high- and low-pitched bleats, time to stand, make contact with dam, suck from dam and follow dam were recorded for each lamb. The maternal behaviour score of the each dam was assessed. A random sub-sample of lambs were assessed during a maternal-recognition test at 12 or 24 hours of age. Traits included time spent standing, sitting, walking, time taken to reach the ewes and time spent with the ewes as well as the number of high- and low-pitched bleats emitted by the lamb. In the paddock, for each additional second required for twin-born lambs to follow their dam, lambs were 1.004 (95% CI 1.000-1.008) times more likely to survive to weaning (P