'The odds are a million to one': See the adorable quintuplet lambs born on a north Shropshire farm
A farmer and his family in north Shropshire have welcomed new arrivals to their farm after a ewe gave birth to a "one-in-a-million" set of quintuplets.
Peter Hamer of Wood Farm in Old Springs, near Market Drayton, has been breeding lambs for decades.
But the 82-year-old farmer was unprepared when one of his ewes gave birth to not one, not two, not three, not four - but five lambs.
Quintuplets in sheep is exceptionally rare, and is often described as a "one-in-a-million" occurence by farm vets.
The ewe began giving birth on Wednesday and Peter said he was "chuffed" to have discovered the sheep had given birth to five lambs.
Jason Hamer, Peter's son, said the whole family have been taken aback.
"Dad was so chuffed," he said. "She'd given birth to three lambs - that is rare enough, but then when he went back to her pen she had given birth to another two.
"We know they were the same ewe as she was in a separate pen. I don't think I've even heard of a ewe having four lambs before now, let alone five - they say it is a one-in-a-million chance."
He said the lambs are being bottle-fed by proud farmer Peter, while his grandchildren Amelia, 11, and Jacob, five, and their mum Amy have been helping out at the farm.
