Last year, Karen Ritchens' crossbred Poll Dorset and Merino ewe Mary had a little lamb. This year, in what has been described as a 'one-in-a-million' occurrence, Mary gave birth to five offspring.
"I'm not sure if I have ever come across quintuplets," Dr Crichton said."Occasionally we will do things to make livestock ovulate more, or sometimes there's two splits and that's created two sets of twins and a single."Ms Ritchens said the ewe was a crossbred Poll Dorset and Merino and only had one lamb last year.
"We've only had her for two years, so she's not very old, she's not very friendly, but she's always been healthy and strong."We were asked to name them by the local newspaper so we've got Daisy, Roger, Bob, Fred and Tammy was the one we lost.With four lambs and one sheep, Ms Ritchens has to help with bottled milk to keep them topped up."They have been fairly keen to take the bottle up until this morning.
A former show horse trainer, Ms Ritchens said she kept the lambs inside the stables during the night to keep them warm during the frosty mornings. "It's been freezing, as soon as the sun goes down they trot into the stable and into their hay bed and snuggle up together."
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