FIVE lambs born to a ewe on a farm outside Letterkenny are doing well according to their owners.
The average number of lambs born during a single birthing is between one and three. So it was a huge surprise for Lyndsey Tinney and her fiance David when one of their Texel-cross Suffolk ewes produced one, two, three, four and then five little ones.
“She was scanned for three so we were only expecting three,” said Lyndsey.
“She gave birth to two and then David pulled out the third and we thought that was it. But he could feel more feet. Suddenly there was a fourth and a fifth.”
Lyndsey said that to put the rarity of the event into context, her future father-in-law is 64 and has been farming his entire life. He has never encountered five lambs born in a single birthing.
David and Lyndsey’s ewe which has just given birth to five lambs.
Two of the lambs have remained with their mother while the other three have been fostered on to single-bearing ewes. Oblivious to how exclusive a club they belong to, the wooly creatures are simply getting used to their whole new world. “All are grand. They were all even when they were born but one was a little smaller than the rest. The smallest was the best sucker of them all,” said Lyndsey.
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