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Westmeath sheep farmer John Sheridan was delighted and surprised when he welcomed a set of quadruplet lambs on to his farm last weekend, just in time for Christmas.
The three-year-old Suffolk-cross-Texel ewe lambed unassisted and is described by John as "a great mother".
The breeding
"I never had a sheep with four lambs. She is such a great mother, she is feeding them away and I am keeping an eye on them.
"As I said the other day, a sheep is designed to rear two lambs, but she just loves her four lambs," John told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Because John has a small flock of sheep, he does not scan his ewes, but he knew this ewe was due to lamb before Christmas.
"I don’t scan, but I seen her been mated, so I knew she was going to lamb before Christmas.
"The ewe is three years old, she is a Suffolk-cross-Texel and has had twin lambs for the past two years."
Lambing quadruplets
"The ewe lambed herself, which is also very unusual. I went out at 6 o’clock in the morning and she had one, then she had a second one, then a third.
"I said to myself she won’t have any more, so I went off to do some jobs and came back and I couldn’t believe she had the fourth lamb.
"She was only in the shed with one other sheep to keep her company and the other ewe wasn’t due until sometime in January, so I knew they were all hers."
Keeping a close eye
"Because I haven’t an awful lot of sheep I will be able to keep a close eye on her. She is just an amazing ewe."
"A farmer with a lot of sheep would probably not have time to watch quadruplets and would take two lambs off the ewe.
"She will stay rearing the lambs as long as it's not too hard on her and I will be keeping a close eye."
Happiness in a sad time
"To tell you the truth, I lost my sister two months ago and I have a few very raw days.
"I know that there is no magic wand for grieving, but to see four lambs bucking and leaping in the shed, suddenly a smile starts to appear on my face, it is just a wonderful feeling."
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