Chances of it happening are said to be one in a million
The Flannery family in Co Mayo had a pleasant surprise last weekend when an ewe gave birth to five healthy lambs on their farm.
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Martina Flannery told AgriLand that the five lambs were born on January 13 at their farm in Bangor, Erris, Co Mayo. The ewe and all five lambs appear to be healthy and thriving.
The ewe and her five lambs (Colm Flannery)
Martina explained that she and her husband purchased the ewe as a Christmas gift for their teenage daughter. She said her husband “bought two sheep in Ballina Mart on December 18, the last mart before Christmas.
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“They were scanned with four lambs each so he bought the two sheep.
“There’s a young lady in our house, Ciara, and she’s only 17 but she’s interested in sheep and lambs so he said he was going to give her one of them for Christmas.”
Martina recounted the exciting day that the five lambs were born, saying her husband let the sheep out Sunday morning as he does usually, and at 2:30 pm the ewe had her first lamb outside.
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“Then we brought her into the shed and she had the other ones inside. She had the four and we were delighted and Michael went down to the house; he thought it was all over.
The ewe and her five lambs (Colm Flannery)
“Myself and Ciara stayed out in the shed and she put out another water bag. It was great excitement,” she added.
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Martina’s son Colm Flannery told Joe.ie that he wasn’t expecting such a big litter from the ewe.
Flannery said: "She was scanned for four and she had five, a massive surprise to us all.”
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