Excessive mucus in pregnant ewe

[sheep_scout]

Okay this might sound crazy.
It seems like since the first day I got Sherry (the new ewe) and felt her udder, to feeling it tonight at feeding time, her udder is SHRINKING. The first day I brought her home I remember being astonished at how large and tight it was. Tonight it was very squishy and just feels so much smaller.
I am afraid she either had her lamb the night before I picked her up, and it might've gotten mixed in with the breeder's countless other lambs (they were all collectively in a very small pen, lambing together- LOTS of lambs jumping about and maybe another ewe went in labor at the same time and stole the lamb or got confused), OR she had it here and either miscarried it or is hiding it. If she had it already, I would be shocked because there has been no blood and no "cleaning out" on her wooly back end. I've also been checking on her frequently every day and making nightly checks every 4 hours.

Am I crazy/overthinking this?! I'm about to go out there and try the water test on her teats and see if they are slimy (from being nursed). I guess another option would be self-nursing?
She has been with my sheep in a fairly large pasture so while it is technically possible for her to have already given birth, the fact that she is so young and would know to hide her baby and keep returning to it stumps me. She has also been locked up in a small pen every night.

 

[Baymule]

Ewes don’t hide their babies. If she had a lamb, you would see the evidence on her back end, it’s messy. It’s more likely that she lambed and it didn’t come with her, from what you described.

 

[sheep_scout]

Her teats are very slimy if that means anything.
Rear-end pic taken a few minutes ago. She would’ve had to give birth last Sunday morning/noon at the latest. So 8 days ago

 

[sheep_scout]

Also, I crutched her myself a few days ago. When I brought her here, her back end was a huge mess right below her lady parts, but it appeared to be from pee/poop because it was so overgrown it was directly in line with her pee stream.

 

[Ridgetop]

She may be self-sucking. If the lamb did not come with her, her udder would have gotten so full it was uncomfortable. Or she may be a self-sucker and that was why she was sold. She certainly doesn't look like she is ready to give birth now. Was she sold as being pregnant and ready to lamb?

 

[Ridgetop]

When was her due date supposed to be? Did the seller give you a breeding date? Did you have a lambing date?

 

[sheep_scout]

The seller did not give me a breeding date, but said she was due within a month - but thought sooner rather than later due to the size/tightness of her udder. Her rear end also looked pretty swollen and big compared to how it looks now.
I was going to buy two bred ewes but one ended up lambing the day before I came and they decided to keep her and the babies.

 

[Finnie]

Can you ask her if she found any extra lambs in the group?

 

[sheep_scout]

I have her husband's number, he was who I was corresponding with before I picked her up. Waiting to hear back from him. 😬

 

[Finnie]

Well, if worse comes to worse, and she doesn’t have a lamb to raise as a 10 month old, she can just continue maturing and you can breed her to lamb later.