Sheep Experts

[backwoodsnanny]

we expect a lamb? As some of you know we are babysitting a herd of sheep for a friend and this morning one of the ewes has much more bag than she had on Friday. Nipples weren't quite full but there is a healthy handful of bag there now and it seems full. I havent had lambs here for about 15 years so my memory fails me with regard to how soon a lamb might appear. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ferrah]

Telling when a ewe will lamb by bag size can be misleading.

Ours usually lambed anywhere from 2 days to two weeks after bagging up. But we did notice that the ewe's formed reliable patterns, once we knew how far in advance they bagged up before lambing, they stuck to it year after year.

The most reliable thing we noticed is when the lamb would drop into lambing position. The shape of her belly will change and she will appear sunken in just before her hips. When that happened they usually lambed within 24 hours.

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Thank you Ferrah for your response. It has been 15 years since we have had a lamb here so my memory has failed me. I wouldnt have been asking but this bag appeared in 2 days her due date is roughly April 1. I am babysitting these sheep for a friend so want to do what I can to make this lambing go well. She is not sunk in the flank at least not at 5 PM. but will be keeping a closer eye on her from here on out. Thanks again.

 

[Shari]

Had one ewe that would full bag up on me 4 weeks before she would lamb! Silly creature.

They are like other animals... their back ends will soften and swell a bit when ready to lamb.