Sheep on Tasmanian farm gives birth to quintuplets

Veterinarians and livestock experts widely describe a sheep giving birth to five lambs as a "one-in-a-million" event.

So Greg Wilson was shocked when one of his livestock gave birth to quintuplets.

“I’ve been farming my entire life, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mr Wilson said.

“You occasionally get four, but I’ve never had five.

“It’s pretty amazing.”

Mr Wilson said he was unsure how it happened.

“We do have lots of triplets and twins.

“We have Border Leicester x Merino crossbred ewes, who are pretty fertile and good mothers – lambing is normally around the 150 per cent mark.”

He runs the ewes for fat lamb production and grows certified seed potatoes for Simplot at his Mount Seymour farm.

Mr Wilson said he ran 1700 ewes, but the potatoes were the main focus.

“The lamb market is looking excellent, I’ve never seen prices this good in my lifetime.”