‘It’s quite a sight.’ Rare quintuplet lambs bring adorable ‘chaos’ to Centre County farm

Spring is lambing season and, this year, a ewe at Windswept Farm gave birth to five lambs, a rare event that has made for a hectic season at the Patton Township farm.

Robert “Bob” Van Saun, extension veterinarian and professor of veterinary science in the Penn State College of Ag Sciences, confirmed the rarity of the quintuplets.

“This occurrence has been identified as an exception for sheep, though it depends upon the breed of sheep involved,” he said. “More typically, most sheep breeds will produce one to three lambs depending upon the prevailing management practices and nutrition.”

The five lambs are among 35 total lambs born this season at the farm, which many Centre Countians may know for its on-site restaurant, RE Farm Cafe. There, farm manager Luke Franchock and partner Christina oversee the agricultural side of the business and the farm’s online market.

“The prior year, our ewes mostly gave birth to singles or twins. This year was chaos with multiple triplets, quadruplets and even the one set of quintuplets, which is very rare,” Franchock said. “It’s quite a sight seeing the five little ones galloping to keep up with their hungry mama.”

Beyond the chaos, Van Saun pointed out that a set of quintuplet lambs comes with various health challenges for both mother and infants, making a healthy delivery for all involved nothing short of a miracle.

“(The) first issue is difficulty in the birthing process, in sorting out the different lambs to ensure they come out one at a time. Sheep pregnant with this many developing lambs also will be nutritionally challenged to consume sufficient nutrients, namely energy and protein, to meet the developing fetuses and the ewe,” Van Saun said. “This would predispose the ewe to a metabolic disease called pregnancy toxemia (i.e., twin lamb disease). This disease could result in the loss of lambs as well as the ewe.”

Other challenges include the unlikelihood that the ewe produces enough colostrum and milk to feed all of the lambs, as well as potential illness for the ewe following a more complicated delivery.

“This is why, more often, lambs are bottle raised in these large litters,” Van Saun said.

Windswept Farm’s flock numbers approximately 80 sheep currently and, while the latest Census of Agriculture for Centre County ranks the overall sheep and lamb inventory for the county pretty low on its list compared to other livestock like chickens and cattle, Franchock can’t rave enough about the benefits of raising the animals.

“Smaller than cattle and less cunning than goats, sheep are very easy to handle and perfectly suited to the scale of the farm,” he said. “The particular breed of sheep we raise are called Katahdin. They naturally shed their coat each year and lack the lanolin oils that are responsible for strong flavors in conventional lamb, making them low-maintenance and the meat exceptional.”

He added: “We love to contribute to the prevalence of this amazing animal so we have rams and ewes available for people to start their own flock.”

But for Franchock, a Penn State graduate who grew up in Stormstown, about 15 minutes from Windswept Farm, working with the flock is not simply business — it’s personal.

“Raising animals is physically, mentally and spiritually demanding and I believe this is invaluable,” he said. “All too often, we find ourselves depressed in life because we have become pigeonholed as a specialist in one of these areas and neglected the others. When these pillars are in balance, we can climb higher than we could on any one alone.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 11:49 AM.