Herbivores that are raised by their mother tend to be more fearful of humans than those that are reared artificially. In previous studies, the effect of the human behaviour has been confounded by the rearing and maternal environment. This experiment examined the socialization of the lamb to the stockperson when the lambs were petted and bottle fed by humans, early in life, in the presence or absence of the dam. From one day of age until seven weeks of age (weaning), the lambs were either reared individually in the presence of the dam and their twin was behind a grid (M0) or only in the presence of their twin behind the grid (M1). The dams were removed at weaning. Half of the M0 and M1 lambs received human contact until 6 days of age (H1), while the other lambs were not handled by humans and had no visual contact with humans during feeding and other husbandry duties (H0). The lamb’s response to the stockperson was measured during the initial period of human contact, while in the rearing pen (at 4 and 9 weeks of age) and in a test pen at 5 and 10 weeks of age. As well, the lamb’s response to a novel object was tested at 3 and 8 weeks of age and their preference for a stockperson or familiar conspecific was assessed at 6 and 11 weeks of age. Regardless of whether the dam was present, during periods of human contact the lamb remained in contact with the stockperson. Regardless of age, lambs that received human contact during rearing approached the stockperson more quickly and spent more time interacting with the stockperson, than those lambs that did not have human contact during rearing. More specifically, lambs reared with the dam and that received human contact approached the stockperson more readily than other lambs, even when they had to choose between the stockperson and a familiar conspecific. The lambs reared with the dam were more willing to approach the novel object at three weeks of age, than those reared away from the dam, but this difference was not evident after weaning. Thus, the results illustrated that the maternal environment affects the lambs’ ability to socialize with humans. The desire of lambs to remain close to the dam during rearing likely affects the development of other relationships made at an early age. However, the results bring to question how the contact and separation of the lamb from the ewe at an early age affects the lambs’ ability to socialize with humans, and how this improves their reaction to the stockperson.