A popular farm is celebrating an extraordinary and bumper lambing season after not one, but two rare sets of quadruplet lambs were born within days of each other.
The National Forest Adventure Farm, in Tatenhill, welcomed two unexpected sets of texel cross quad lambs during its New Life on the Farm event during the February half term holidays.
According to Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, quadruplet births for sheep happen about once in every 500 births with those odds doubling for all lambs surviving. Most of the UK’s 16 million ewes giving birth this year will have just one or two lambs.
Farmer Tom Robinson, who runs the site with his brother Ivor, said: “One set of quads is rare but to see two sets within days is something special and has definitely meant it has been a busy start to the season this year. Our team have been on hand to help with bottle feeding as the mothers will have their work cut out with so many hungry mouths to feed.”
Lambing Live starts at the farm near Burton upon Trent on 30 March and runs until 10 April with 240 ewes due to give birth.
