United Kingdom-Devon Farmer gets 10 lambs from 2 Ewes.

FARMER David Chapple is celebrating the perfect 10 after seeing his ewes give birth to not one, but two sets of quins.

The birth of healthy quins — five lambs born at once to the same mother — is unusual. So the birth of two sets within a fortnight is all the more remarkable.

David, who farms the 123-acre Haydon Farm near Cadeleigh, explained: "The first ewe gave birth to quins on February 16.

"It’s the first time I’ve seen quins born in all my time farming, and something I never thought I would see again — so I was amazed when the second lot came on Monday, March 2."

Mr Chapple, 54, farms with his son Stewart, 20.

I haven’t even had quads for a few years, so to get quins was a real surprise, said Mr Chapple"

"All the lambs are doing well. We are topping them up with milk from the bottle because the mothers haven’t got enough for them all.

"In the first set, there was one that was weak and couldn’t stand up, but he was a fighter and we put him under an infa-red light and he is doing fine."

Both sets of lambs are Dorsets and looking after them is keeping the Chapple family busy during the already hectic lambing season.

Lambing at the farm began on February 10 and is expected to continue for another week or so.

There are still 21 ewes left to give birth from a total of 190.

David said the lambs were proving quite an attraction for visitors. "We have had lots of people coming to see the lambs," he said. "We are taking some of them to visit the toddler group at Bickleigh, and the Tiverton Brownies are coming out to see them as well."

He said other farmers had also reported a large number of multiple births this season. "It was a wet summer and autumn and there was more lush grass, so when it came to mating, they were in good condition," said Mr Chapple.

National Sheep Association chief executive Peter Morris agreed the birth of two sets of quins on the same farm was extremely rare.

"The birth of quins is probably a one in 500 or a one in a 1,000 chance, but for them all to survive is probably a one in 10,000 chance and two sets in the same season is rare."

Mr Morris said while Dorsets were known to be a prolific breed, the occurrence of two such births within a relatively small flock was also surprising.

Mr Morris said anecdotal evidence supported Mr Chapple’s claim that more lambs were being born this season. He said: "The indications are that in the South West, numbers are up. The flock is decreasing in terms of the number of birthing ewes, but they seem to be giving birth to slightly more lambs."