signs of lambing?

My smallest bellied ewe, the one I was/am convinced is not preggers, is acting strange. At first I thought she was enjoying the sun. She would reach down and stretch her head, I thought to eat, and then she would kick upwards towards herself and run. Repeat. repeat. She kept kicking at 'something'. And now 1/2 hour later, she is off by herself, standing, chewing her cud. She is breathing heavy and looks uncomfortable. She won't let me close to her to see her vulva, I can't see any signs of her bagging up. She's also the only ewe I have that is elusive, and the likelyhood of me capturing her without help is slim. All signs point to impending birth or premature birth...? Or something else? I looked through some of the other ewe's wool for signs of pests, not really sure what I'm looking for but I didn't see any creepy crawlies in the wool, though that doesn't mean she's not got something. I have two others that have swollen vulva but zero signs of bagging up. They definitely could be due, though I never seen Dudley in action.

If this is signs of eminent birthing, how long till she gives birth if it's normal?

I would almost guess it is a parasite bugging her. If she is not bagging up, not big in the belly and not noticeably pregnant I wouldn't think she is in labor.
I have had sheep with nasal bots and they would put their heads down low, shake their heads and run. Her kicking at something then running makes me think more of a bug bugging her than labour pains.
Definitely watch her because one never know how young ewes will react to labor.

I have ivomectin sheep drench - would it be safe to give her if it's labor, if she's preggers, and will it take care of the bugs you think it might be?

I wouldn't give ivermectin when she is this close to lambing if she is pregnant. It could be her just feeling great.. my sheep will do this often..or it could be those nasty flies,,and you can try puting some of that "swat" on her..
you might try to entice her into your barn or enclosure where you can snag her and have a look at her. Grain always works well for this. That is one of the reasons i will feed grain during the last couple weeks of pregnancy..that and the extra protein.
If you shake a grain bucket; chances are they will all come running, pen them all in a very small area with the help of some gates, or people, and then climb amungst them and snag her

I was able to get closer tonight in the dark, definitely no swelling in the vulva at all and no bag. So with the kicking that must leave parasite of some sort. She wouldn't stay still long enough to look at anything else. I wish she was as friendly as the rest on days like today, though other days the others are more like pests at times.

As long as they are not bagging up, is it safe to ivomec them even if pregnant, and will that get any/all parasites they might have? Or is there a better product. I don't want to have to use something if I don't have to, but if she is showing the same signs tomorrow then I gotta think that something is up.

These are east freisians and are very hard to grade, and I still haven't found any info on the web about grading milking sheep (other than they are not graded the same as other sheep) they are built a bit like milking cows and have a leaner body.

You can give ivermectin starting from 6 weeks before lambing for parasite control, nose bots, worms, lung worms etc.  I wouldn't give it too close to lambing; i wouldn't want to stress the ewe.
As far as scoring; i just feel the back bone, and try and guage the amount of fat on each side of the backbone.  I also don't know anything about milk sheep.
The last 2 weeks it is tough for the sheep to get enough nutrients, because baby is taking up space the rumen normally would.  They have to be fed good quality hay at this time..and i always supplement with some grain.

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Same scoring as any other sheep

She wouldn't have ticks on her, would she?    You might need guineas.  They get rid of them from the yard/bushes.  Noisy but useful.  Tasty eggs too.

Nobody else liked them, but I loved my guniea. fowl.

Ticks are a possibility...the dogs get about 2-3 ticks a year, atleast the ones I find.

um...ram was doing it today, and he's not preggers...it's very warm today, definitely parasites of some sort...poor guys.  I will ivomec them tonight.  Is there anything else I need to give them?

Oh, and I have not help and no chute or anything of the sort - any tips for drenching them...I plan to use darkness to my advantage.