February 9, 2023 5.00 pm This story is over 23 months old

Different breeds, different dads: Remarkable lamb triplets arrive at Rand Farm

The tale of a ewe in season and two randy rams

By Local Democracy Reporter

Newborn lamb triplets at Rand Farm Park have caught the eye with their distinctive differences, as one ewe gave birth to different breeds — from different fathers.

Rand Farm Park in Rand, near Wragby in an award-winning spot for farm animals, offering people a chance to get up close to the likes of cows, sheep, goats and more.

A popular feature every year comes around February, and that is the annual lambing season. Around 100 lambs are birthed at the farm itself, and a host of cade lambs are brought there after birth if, for instance, they were born as a triplet and had to be separated for nutrition purposes.

Lambing season is immensely popular at Rand Farm. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The sheep and their lambs always garner big crowds at the farm, but this time around it was the turn of a very special and unique case to take centre stage.

Triplets have been born at the farm, but there is a twist. One of them looks very different from the other two, meaning that the ewe mother was having fun during her period of season with not one, but two male sheep.

One particular ewe was feeling quite frisky when she entered season. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Conception is thought to have taken place last summer, when fencing work was being done at Rand Farm Park and the rams had to spend two days in the same pen as the ewes.

One particular ewe had just gone into season and was a love interest of not one but two rams. Better still, they were different breeds of ram.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

After the randy romp at Rand Farm Park’s sheep enclosure, the fencing work was complete and the rams returned to their original homes without any questions being asked.

Then, just before Christmas at the end of 2022, these three incredible lambs arrived from the same mother, but with striking differences.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

This has resulted in a never-before witnessed birth at Rand Farm. Three lambs of two different breeds, sharing 50% of their mother’s DNA but coming from two different fathers.

One of the lambs is 50% Jacob, with distinctive black patches all over its face and body, and the other two are 50% Herdwick, a breed which comes with white heads and grey-streaked coats.

Nathan Brickwood, farm supervisor at Rand Farm Park. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Nathan Brickwood, supervisor at Rand Farm Park, said it was a “welcome surprise” and the triplets have been stars of the show ever since their arrival.

“When the first one popped out it was a bit of a head-scratcher,” Nathan says. “A little brown and white lamb arrived, it became immediately obvious that one of the Jacob lambs had courted her at some point, but they were only together for less than two days.

“I had to go back on my notes to see when they could have met each other, and the only time was last summer when we had our fencing done.

“Literally it took two days before we split them up again, and by that time she was still in season and a Herdwick ram had a bit of a go too!”

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The triplets are currently resting in their pen with the mother, where they will stay together and grow in close proximity.

Nathan added: “Typically with triplets you will take one away and foster it with another, maybe a single, or you would bottle feed it.

“Because this one was born just before Christmas, it was the only one at that time of year and if we were to remove it, it would have been on its own.

“We will bottle feed it a couple of times a day, so as not to overburden the mum because looking after three is probably a bit much.”

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

It’s times like these where we could really have done with a Jeremy Kyle Show-type DNA test to find the fathers.

Lambing season is underway at Rand Farm Park, and you can go and see the lambs, or maybe even bottle feed them yourself, by booking a slot on the Rand Farm website. Tickets cost £7.50 and it is open daily between 10am and 2pm.


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