At the Van Gog family in Neerkant, they did not know what they saw on Tuesday. One ewe gave birth to no fewer than five lambs in the morning. “The sheep had already given birth to quadruplets a few years ago, we thought that was very special. But five lambs, we did not expect that!” says Ellis van Gog.
Her father keeps ten sheep for the hobby and is busy at this time. Several sheep are about to give birth in the coming days.
“My father knew that the sheep had to lamb this week, this morning he saw the first lamb appear in the meadow. He brought the sheep and the lamb inside because of the cold, so that she could give birth in the barn quietly.”
The second lamb was then bothered, her father had to lend a hand to let it be born. “The rest followed soon after. All the lambs were born healthy within a few hours and mother and the children are doing well.”
Her mother came to share the happy birth news with the Van Gog family on Tuesday. “She came to tell our son Pim, he is two years old. She asked: ‘Do you know how many lambs have just been born?’ And she started counting down from one to five. My eyes got bigger and bigger, until she was waving a full hand.”
More lambs are expected to be born in the near future. They skip the rusk with mice. “Then we will have to eat a lot of rusks in the coming period.”