Co Derry sheep farmer Declan Mullan helped one of his pedigree Lleyn ewes deliver triplet lambs under the most bizarre circumstances on the evening of Sunday 8 March.

While triplet lambs are common place on sheep farms, on this occasion, it was no ordinary labour.

The four-year-old ewe in question had just delivered her second set of triplets, a mere 17 days after the first set was born on 20 February 2020.

According to Declan, who runs the 200-ewe pedigree Lleyn flock under the Mullamore prefix, the ewe was scanned on 9 December and triplets had been confirmed.

First lambs

The ewe went into labour and gave birth to three live lambs on 20 February.

“The first lamb born was very small, but the next two lambs were a good size.

"After lambing, I felt the ewe still looked heavy, so kept an eye on her. But she was bright and feeding properly.

"The ewe was penned with all three lambs in an individual mothering pen after the first lambing. Normally, I keep triplets together until one can be fostered to another ewe.

"But I felt the small lamb wasn’t strong enough to fostering, especially with other lambs that were bigger and stronger to choose from. So I left the three lambs together and supplemented them by bottle feeding."

Second set

"Fast forward to the evening of Sunday 8 March around 5pm. I was in the sheep house feeding animals and noticed the ewe lying.

"She was pressing, and my concern at the time was she was going to push her lamb bed out. She was sick looking and when offered meal, she had no interest in eating.

"After leaving the shed for a few minutes, when I returned, I was stunned to see she had pushed out a lamb.

I immediately checked the ewe internally, and a second lamb was sitting ready to come out. Having removed this lamb myself, a third lamb was born minutes later.

Two sets of triplets from the same ewe, 17 days apart, with all lambs live and well

"I couldn’t believe what had happened. I had a neighbour with me at the time, and they were also in disbelief.

"Two sets of triplets from the same ewe, 17 days apart, with all lambs live and well. Both sets of triplets had two ewe lambs and one ram lamb.

"This is the ewe’s third lamb crop. Last year, she had four lambs and four in her first year, so that’s 14 lambs in three years,” said Declan.