Lying space and pen shape were altered in order to determine the effects on resting behaviour and displacements in ewes. Lying space was 0.5, 0.75, of 1.0 m2/ewe and pen shape was either deep or wide. Six groups of four adult sheep were exposed to all of the treatments for a period of 7 days. Total lying time was reduced fro 70 to 63 % when the lying area was reduced from 1.0 to 0.5 m2, and lying time in the deep pens (67.0 %) was longer than in the wide pens (64.5 %). The occurrence of all four ewes lying simultaneously was reduced from 45.4 to 5.9 % as the lying area was reduced. The number of times a ewe displaced a lying ewe (per ewe and 24 hours) increased from 6.4 to 28.9 as the lying area was reduced. Low ranking ewes were lying less often and were more active than the other ewes. Pen shape did not have a significant effect on the behaviour of the ewes, except for lying time. There was a lower lying time for ewes in wide pens compared with ewes in deep pens. Reducing lying space from 1.0 to 0.5 m2/ewe resulting in a reduction in lying time, less synchronized resting, and a large increase in the number of displacements. There were no significant effects of pen shape, except for lying time.