Alberta sheep gives birth to quintuplets: ‘Just so shocking’

It’s turning out to be a very special lambing season for a farm family near Olds, Alta.

A spring surprise means they are now enjoying five times the usual fun after an ewe named Peaches gave birth to quintuplets on March 31.

“(It was) just so shocking,” farmer Averee Wallace said, adding that it came as a surprise despite Peaches’ size in the days leading up to the births.

“She was massive. We were expecting three — possibly four — but I did not expect there to be five of them, that’s for sure.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "She was massive. We were expecting three — possibly four — but I did not expect there to be five of them, that's for sure."

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Peaches gave birth to triplets after her first pregnancy, but having five lambs at once is a much more rare occurrence.

“From what I’ve been finding, it is really one-in-a-million to have quintuplets and have them all healthy and survive,” Wallace said. “So it’s a pretty exciting thing.”

Wallace’s four-year-old daughter Harlie is helping her mom take care of the young lambs.

“I love this one,” Harlie said. “Because he’s the smallest.”

Wallace said the quintuplets are not only surviving, but thriving.

“They are all able to eat from mom, but we do supplement, just to make sure that they are getting all the nutrients that they need,” Wallace said. “They’re doing really well and they grow so fast.

“Overall, it’s just such an awesome experience.”