# Mature Ewe Bag



## Britgoes2market (Mar 16, 2022)

Hello all! I just signed up so I'm a total newb here.....

I have a mature ewe who has lambed twice in her life, this would be her third. She is due April 7th. We had a young homeschool girl come in to scan her for pregnancy and she scanned not pregnant, but she is a very big ewe. With her due date being in April she has not started to bag up like the other girls so I'm inclined to think that maybe she isn't pregnant? So my question would be, if she WAS pregnant, could she bag up later?

I'm asking because I'm disappointed at the thought of her not being in lamb because she produces nice thick lambs....and am still a little bit of a newb to sheep in general. 

Thank you all!


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## Alaskan (Mar 16, 2022)

Bagging up isn't a great indicator. 

It can happen pretty late.

@Baymule  ?


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## Cotton*wood (Mar 16, 2022)

Uh....if she didn't appear pregnant in the scan, she's probably not pregnant.....


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## Baymule (Mar 17, 2022)

She might have missed on this one. Put her back with the ram.


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## Britgoes2market (Mar 17, 2022)

Alaskan said:


> Bagging up isn't a great indicator.
> 
> It can happen pretty late.
> 
> @Baymule  ?


Thank you  I


Cotton*wood said:


> Uh....if she didn't appear pregnant in the scan, she's probably not pregnant.....


I figured.  The gal that came out was also learning how to use her equipment, so I was hoping that she might have just missed it because she is a big ewe. We don't have high hopes she is pregnant, but plan to watch her anyway. However, if I'm honest, I came here cause regardless of not having high hopes, I'm still hoping hahah!


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## Ridgetop (Mar 17, 2022)

Bagging up is not necessarily an indicator of pregnancy.  Some bag up early, some don't seem to bag up until the lambs are born.  How are you checking her for udder development?  Visually or by palpation of udder tissue?  

The problem with scanning late in the pregnancy is that some scans won't pick up the fetus based on early or late gestation time.  Scanning is not always easy and needs to be done by someone who has experience.  If the girl is just learning to use the equipment she may not be scanning properly.  You can wait to see if your ewe lambs in April.  

Is the April lambing date based on when the ewe went in with the ram or when she came out of the breeding pen?  Who gave you that date?  If it is based on when she went into the breeding pen (assuming you did not see the actual breeding) you need to figure that she might have recycled and would have rebred about 2 weeks later.  Based on an April 7 lambing date the ewe would have been bred November 13.  If you pulled her out of the breeding pen before enough time to recycle and rebreed, she might be open.

*What breed sheep do you have?  *Heavily wooled ewes often hide their udder under all the wool.  Some ewes (just like women) have smaller udders and some have larger ones.  Some have better ligaments that hold the udder up high while others have saggy bags.

With regard to body size, I have a ewe that is just as wide after she lambs as she is before she lambs.  She has a very large rumen and a lot of width.  I also have a ewe that routinely lambs twins and never looks very pregnant at all.  

When you say this is a "large" ewe are you comparing her to the other ewes of her breed? Are these other ewes younger and first fresheners?  Or are they the same age, breed, and supposed to be ready to deliver the same time?  

Do you have access to a ram?  Depending on the breed you can turn her in with the ram and see what happens.  However, if this is a breed that is a *seasonal* breeder (unlike Dorpers and Katahdins that breed year round) turning her in with the ram will not help since this is not the season normal sheep breed.  Seasonal (annual) breeding sheep come into estrus the end of summer and during the fall.  Rams come into rut then, otherwise they are not interested in breeding.  If she is  seasonal breeder and is open she can't be successfully bred until the end of summer into the fall.  If she is a year round breeder you can try exposing her to a ram now hoping for a lamb/lambs in September.

You should know before the end of Aril so let us know.


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## Britgoes2market (Mar 17, 2022)

Ridgetop said:


> Bagging up is not necessarily an indicator of pregnancy.  Some bag up early, some don't seem to bag up until the lambs are born.  How are you checking her for udder development?  Visually or by palpation of udder tissue?
> 
> The problem with scanning late in the pregnancy is that some scans won't pick up the fetus based on early or late gestation time.  Scanning is not always easy and needs to be done by someone who has experience.  If the girl is just learning to use the equipment she may not be scanning properly.  You can wait to see if your ewe lambs in April.
> 
> ...


Thank you so so much for your response! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain things. 

We check her udder via site and feel. At first her bag looked as though it was united with her tum, but I sort of think from behind it looks like she is getting a bag but I can't tell if it's because I'm hopeful or not. My other ewes are due the 27 - 31 of this month, so we have been doing bag checks every day while feeding. I go back and forth on whether she is actually getting bigger because if she is, it's really subtle. 

Her due date is based on when she was marked by the Ram with his marking harness. There is no access of rams to the ewes right now and he was taken to the sale right after she was marked, so he could not have marked her after the 2 weeks. But she stood for him a good part of the day! I just checked my calendar and she was marked on Nov 11. 

This particular girl is a Rambouillet/Columbian cross, and she is much bigger than our Suffolk ewes, probably by about 50-75 pounds bigger and taller. 

Thank you again for all your thoughts!


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## Ridgetop (Mar 17, 2022)

Her due date would be about April 5, so still 3 weeks off.  At this point she should have some thickening of udder tissue between the teats.  Hopefully she is bred.  If not, next season try to get her in a situation where she will remain with the ram for at least a month. Estrus cycles can range about 12 days to 17 days apart.  If a ram catches the ewe at the end of her cycle the breeding might not take and she will come back in estrus 12 -17 days later. You want at least 3 weeks with no marking after the last breeding to be sure she is bred.


Her extra size is probably due to the Columbian cross.


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## Britgoes2market (Apr 12, 2022)

Just updating! Momma had two very big lambs yesterday!


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## Baymule (Apr 12, 2022)

That's great news! Post pictures of them! Ewe or ram lambs?


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## Alaskan (Apr 12, 2022)

Congrats!


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