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Ewesconceiveafterthreeorfourcopulationswiththeram。Ifrainfallsafterintercourse，theramimpregnatestheeweagain；anditisthesamewiththeshe-goat。Theewebearsusuallytwolambs，sometimesthreeorfour。Botheweandshe-goatcarrytheiryoungforfivemonths；consequentlywhereveradistrictissunnyandtheanimalsareusedtocomfortandwellfed，theybeartwiceintheyear。Thegoatlivesforeightyearsandthesheepforten，butinmostcasesnotsolong；thebell-wether，however，livestofifteenyears。Ineveryflocktheytrainoneoftheramsforbell-wether。Whenheiscalledonbynamebytheshepherd，hetakestheleadoftheflock:andtothisdutythecreatureistrainedfromitsearliestyears。SheepinEthiopialivefortwelveorthirteenyears，goatsfortenoreleven。
Inthecaseofthesheepandthegoatthetwosexeshaveintercoursealltheirliveslong。
Twinswithsheepandgoatsmaybeduetorichnessofpasturage，ortothefactthateithertheramorthehe-goatisatwin-begetterorthattheeweortheshe-goatisatwin-bearer。Oftheseanimalssomegivebirthtomalesandotherstofemales；andthedifferenceinthisrespectdependsonthewaterstheydrinkandalsoonthesires。Andiftheysubmittothemalewhennorthwindsareblowing，theyareapttobearmales；ifwhensouthwindsareblowing，females。Suchasbearfemalesmaygettobearmales，dueregardbeingpaidtotheirlookingnorthwardswhenputtothemale。
Ewesaccustomedtobeputtotheramearlywillrefusehimifheattempttomountthemlate。Lambsarebornwhiteandblackaccordingaswhiteorblackveinsareundertheram\'stongue；thelambsarewhiteiftheveinsarewhite，andblackiftheveinsareblack，andwhiteandblackiftheveinsarewhiteandblack；andrediftheveinsarered。Thefemalesthatdrinksaltedwatersarethefirsttotakethemale；thewatershouldbesaltedbeforeandafterparturition，andagaininthespringtime。Withgoatstheshepherdsappointnobell-wether，astheanimalisnotcapableofreposebutfriskyandapttoramble。Ifattheappointedseasontheeldersoftheflockareeagerforintercourse，theshepherdssaythatitbodeswellfortheflock；iftheyoungerones，thattheflockisgoingtobebad。