It's been four(4) years waiting for this  but I finally got the pictures I needed ! 

The Birthing Lambs page isn't all that bad for learning what the "Signs" of birth are, but the actual labor is sometimes REALLY hard to catch and a lot happens quickly. Even though you may closely manage your ram/s to plan a birth date it sure is tough to catch the actual birth itself. I've been waiting a LONG time for this and not only did I witness the whole thing as it occured, I also have all of the pictures I need to show it to you as well. I hop this is informative for you. If you need pics just write and ask (i.e. a school project).                                                        Ready For Twins..... Here we go!

The ewe in labor will start keeping her distance from the rest of the flock (Left. Top center of picture). If you have a paddock area, like I do for feeding, the ewe might skip feeding or just leave a little earlier as the rest of the flock still feeds. The flock may rejoin the ewe in labor but she still tries to kept her distance the best she can. I see this typical behaviour when sheep are feeling sick or hurting also; I suppose labor isn't that much fun for the ewe. 

I've also noticed that since I feed only once per day, in the morning, that the births tend to happen very near feeding time; usually 3-4 hours earlier even though this one was at feeding time. 

I knew that something was about to happen when this ewe finished eating before the rest of the flock and ventured out on her own; something I knew she NEVER does -- I waited for 2 1/2 hours in a cold pasture sitting on a bucket and it was worth the wait. Feeding the sheep daily and spending just a minimum amount of time will help you develop an understanding of their individual character. This is sometimes harder with large flocks.

When in labor the ewe's vaginal area will be exceptionally swollen and protruding significantly (right and below). She will keep her tail up most of the times as labor makes her feel as though she is urinating. You'll see that she'll stop frequently and squat. 

As labor progresses she will try to lay down, then quickly get up once again when she feels in pain. This repeats itself easily a dozon or more times during labor. Every time the ewe would try to lay down the labor pains would make her uncomfortable and she'd get right back up again, and like humans births, the contractions get quicker as the birth nears.

Soon you may see the water sack that surrounds the lamb start to appear (left). Through this membrane you may see the white tips of the lamb hooves (below). The hooves will darken as they dry and harden some time after birth..

The water sack will elongate (left) and eventually break. Once broken you might see the lambs feet (below) and/or head. This is a great sign that the birth is going along perfectly. These are the front feet as you can tell by the angle/direction of the hooves.

She won't require assistance and now it's not more than 5-10 minutes away from birth.

I know... it looks gross but think about what they eat and then the color makes more sense.

Most likely this is the view you're likely to see from a distance without a zoom lense (right and below). Water sack now broken, the lambs hooves look like little more than a few bumps that could be mistaken for afterbirth.

Her labor is still progressing but she makes no noise (At least this one didn't). She'll still attempt to ease her pain by laying down and you can see she is closing her eyes as she pushes and squats (left). You'll notice that the vaginal area is widening and more reddish tissue is seen (Below).

 (Above) Continuing to strain, the ewe lays and pushes.

 As the ewe feels the lamb present itself she stands (below).

Births of Twin Lambs

Immediately following the birth the mother should look at the baby and lick, or even eat, the water sack from the baby - even the entire afterbirth as I've noticed happen with a few of my lambing (not all of them). This is the time to do NOTHING and stay away for a time until she bonds with the lamb. Licking the lamb clean is a way to bond.

As soon as the baby is free from the sack it will begin to "bleat" for the mother and move or struggle. This draws the ewe's attention.

Within only 5 minutes of birth the lamb/s will try, and succeed, at standing. It's normal for the baby to lay back down and rest. Other lambs and mothers may come and visit out of concern or curiosity.

Just as a point of reference, this recorded birth was this ewe's first lambing. Her sister had just given birth two days prior and aside from that birth she has never seen another lambing. She's just a little over one(1) year old and her motherly insticts kicked in immediately. I checked on her every few hours after the births and both lambs were nursing and either following mom or sleeping in the pasture with her hovering overhead. They've been through a tough ordeal and napping is high on their priority the first day. As the lambs sleep it's a great time to run out and check their sex.... but other than that leave them be until tomorrow. 

Literally within minutes of birth the lamb/s struggles to stand. It showed an immediate instinct to look for the ewe's utters to nurse but the mother was still working on the second lamb and wanted nothing to do with it.

Once the second lamb was up and about the mother was walking in circles to avoid the first lamb. While the second lamb, being much smaller, tried to nurse from her slightly larger brother, the brother was trying to nurse from the mother -- what a spectacle. Round and round and round.

It's absolutely normal to see differences in sizes and color; especially size. Weights may differ by a pound and their sizes will be distinct up until the middle of weaning (around 8-10 weeks later). Eventually twins or triplets will catch up with one another; the same goes for singles verses twins born the same day. A single may be bigger than any twin or triplet but eventually even the smallest twin will catch up in size and weight.

I hope this was helpful and fun for you.......it was for me !

I took about 50-80 pictures during the entire labor and birth. This ewe was very uncomfortable with my being in the center of the pasture and she showed this by circling me many times during labor. But since I was in the center of the pasture she moved in close to the rest of the flock; you might notice that in a few of the shots. This behavior (moving into the flock) really doesn't happen normally. I've noticed that new lambs, just birthed, were far out in the pasture while all of the other sheep were close to the barn. Other times the ewe was in the barn and everyone else was in the far pasture. They seem to respect each other in this way and just occasionally will the younger sheep stop in for a quick visit; seemingly out of concern. It's fun to watch but knowing what's going through their minds is just anyones guess.

The new mother and lambs will stay away from the flock for a few days (at most) until she finally feels comfortable with the lambs and hunger starts to strike at her stomach. Mothers who have birthed within a few days of each other will seem to mingle and stick together during this time, even sharing baby sitting duty for a few minutes at a time.