Is she close???

[Starsmom]

My son's Ewe is pregnant. I am used to goats and their signs, but sheep are different. This is a FF and here is what I am seeing: The area around her vulva is swollen, has been for a few weeks or so. Her udder is coming in and has gotten a lot larger over the past couple days. This morning the vulva appears to be enlongated and loser, slightly open. Not much change since this am, maybe a little looser. What kind of time frame are we looking at? I don't want to miss this birth as she is a FF, she is a good size ewe and in perfect health. She has been on a diet of alfalfa hay and started on grain about 3 weeks ago. Is UTD on all vaccinations and deworming, hooves trimmed but she hasn't been sheared. BTW, she is a dorset/suffolk cross and the ram is a FB Suffolk.

[frazzlehead]

Oh, goodness, if there is one thing sheep are good at it is confusing the shepherd about when they will lamb!

Yours does sound like she's getting close, but as to when exactly ... well, we have had nine deliveries so far this year and only witnessed one, and that was by total fluke (we happened to be looking out the window at the time!). The one that gave lots of clues was moseying around the pasture, nosing at the ground, pawing, picking a spot to lay down, getting up, moving, bossing someone else out of THEIR spot, and generally being cranky. She delivered her lamb in the 10 minutes between 'window checks', literally!

If you really want to be sure, put her in a pen in the barn (got a barn? not all of us do...) and use a baby monitor. The mamas make this very different snuffling sound at their babies, and at least you'll hear if she has already delivered ... and if she is in pain/trouble she will grind her teeth and you'll hear that. Looking and watching just doesn't seem to work (for us, anyway) unless you camp out in the pasture.

Best of luck!

[minnikin1]

Stretching the body long and holding the tail at a weird angle are few signs they seem to show while they are dilating, but it's very subtle.
This year I noticed the first ewe start this at 5pm and she lambed the next morning at 8am.

They have the same sinking-in at the tail head that goats have, but it can be harder to see due to the wool. (Good pics of this are on the fiasco farm website.)

This year I swear that one ewe was beginning to actively strain and then her labor stopped when the LGD's decided to fight over a bone nearby. I felt so bad for her, she was so tired. She didn't start up again for many hours.

[Starsmom]

I have goats and know all their signs. Its just harder to tell with all that wool. Her udder is filing in nicely...getting bigger every day. She is just as playful and lovable as always. She even ran along behind me while I was on my ATV. I thought she would give up, but she followed me all the way to the front door. Even tried to come inside. I could hear her wiggling the door knob. She was very ill as a lamb and spent about 2 months in the house, so she still remembers that. I think she followed me because she saw I had a bottle that I gave to the bottle baby and she still remembers the bottle, she tries to take it every chance she gets.