# Ewe has not lambed yet and bag is extremely red and large...



## irishdancer (Feb 15, 2013)

Hi everyone!  

I have a ewe that is about ready to give birth and is just miserable.  She is extremely large and her bag is huge.  It is very very full and it seems really red around the nipples.  I have not seen any of my ewes with a bag this big ever.  She keeps going off by herself and I keep thinking that she will be giving birth any minute but then another day goes by.  How do I tell if there is something wrong?  I'm already embarrassed because I took my bum lambs into the vet thinking they had WMD and scours.  They were just wobbly and needed less milk replacer.  Its like I'm a new Mom with no experience so I pretty much worry about everything right now and if its "normal".  So I don't want to keep bugging the vets if its just part of the normal process, but I don't want to wait if something is really wrong either.  How can I tell when its time to call a vet?  Thanks!


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## bonbean01 (Feb 15, 2013)

Is she is not in labour and having contractions for a super long time, my guess is that she is okay...have you seen any discharge to make you think there is a problem?

I have one ewe that always gets a huge udder the last two weeks before she lambs...looks like she could feed at least 4 lambs.  Never had mastitis, but you could feel her udder for any hard lumps if you are worried.

I'm not a vet...so I really don't know...but if she goes into hard labour for many hours and no progress, then I would call a vet.

Good luck and keep us posted...hope people with good answers come to give you some advice!


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## Southern by choice (Feb 15, 2013)

I am a new sheep mom too!  Hopefully the experienced ones will chime in... but you could feel the teats..are they hot or inflamed  also it never hurts to take a temp. Is she acting normally?

Also, you should never be embarrassed.  We learn by asking questions and through each experience.


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## irishdancer (Feb 15, 2013)

I called a sheep friend and she seems to think everything sounds normal and that I just happen to have a ewe that is really large and has good milk.  She said a little red around the nipples is normal, its just after nursing if they are still red and hot to the touch that you become concerned.  She may have triplets.  She said its just human moms, sometimes some women show a belly and some get as huge as houses.  Since she is still moving around she said it sounds like she is not distressed.  I am planning on just camping out tonight in case of trouble, out of site of course.


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## irishdancer (Feb 16, 2013)

Mama had her babies at 6am this morning!  So relieved.  It went without a hitch!  Two little ewe lambs and their mommy are all doing great. I can finally sleep tonight.


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## bonbean01 (Feb 16, 2013)

Congratulations!!!!!


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## irishdancer (Feb 16, 2013)




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## promiseacres (Feb 16, 2013)

So precious...


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## bonbean01 (Feb 16, 2013)

awwww


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Feb 16, 2013)

*OMG soooo cute and precious!!! *


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## she-earl (Feb 17, 2013)

What breed are they?  The lamb pics reminds me of my bottle baby.  Her wool wasn't the "kinky" normal wooly look but was a fine really white almost hairlike.  I am waiting on her to lamb for the third time is just over two weeks.  In March of 2011 she had twins, last February she had triplets and I am expecting her to have at least triplets again this year.  I am becoming concerned that I may be needing to help her get up soon as she is so heavy with lamb.  Her legs and feet remind me of a deer as they are so slender and small.


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## Remuda1 (Feb 17, 2013)

*I am waiting on her to lamb for the third time is just over two weeks.*

Now THAT is a prolific ewe!!


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## irishdancer (Feb 17, 2013)

Well, these were opps babies.  Learned a good lesson!  When someone gives you a whether sheep, make sure he is indeed neutered all the way.  :/ The whether had one testicle that escaped the process. So I didn't know my ewes were even pregnant until they started dropping lambs! Surprise!  Daddy is 1/2 Navajo Churro and 1/2 Rambouiltte and Mama is full Rambouilette.  Each ewe so far has thrown twins and in each batch, there is one lamb that has the kinky finer fleece of the Rambouilette and the other one has the throw back fleece to the Churro.  I also got some beautiful pure black babies!  So excited about those!  I spin and weave and its really hard to find natural black, which is why I even took the whether, because he really did have a lovely colored fleece.  Thankfully most of the black lambs will have a finer Rambouilette fleece I think.  So in the end it turned out great.  The white ones with the coarser fleeces will also work out great because I recently got a Navajo loom and I can use their fleece for rugs because it will hold up and be a much stronger fiber than the finer fibers.


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