A SWINDON sheep defied the odds when she gave birth to a five-strong flock of her own.

The ewe, known only as Sheep 355, delivered her precious cargo of five lambs at her Roves Farm home, in Sevenhampton, last week.

The woolly, mammoth birth was overseen by farmer and lambing enthusiast Pippa Burr who was shocked at the “one in a million” event.

“To deliver five healthy lambs and all at a healthy weight is remarkable, I’m really proud of her,” she said.

“Usually we’ll expect a single or twin lambs. When we scanned her halfway through her pregnancy at 10 weeks we saw triplets which, while unusual, wasn’t totally unexpected.

“The scans aren’t totally reliable though and when we helped her deliver the first three I could still feel a hard lump in her stomach, meaning a lamb was still there. She delivered that baby and I thought that was it.

“Then I came back later on and there was another lamb she’d delivered all by herself. I couldn’t believe it.”

The three female and two male lambs recently celebrated their one-week birthday and have since thrived on a diet of their mother’s love and bottle feeds administered by Pippa.

“She’s a doting mum and she’s looking after the babies very well. She’s a very friendly ewe so it’s been easy to help her out with feeds when I need to,” Pippa said.

Since arriving in 2011, Sheep 355 has given birth three times, producing an astonishing 12 lambs, against an average of six.

Almost 400 spring lambs have been born since January this year with proud fathers, Suffolk rams Nelson and Napoleon overseeing their mass offspring.

Pippa is constantly on-call for the lambs, and said it is not uncommon for her to have 20-hour days to ensure expectant mothers are happy and healthy.

The farmer, who estimates she has delivered more than 1,000 lambs, said the season is her favourite time of year.

“Lambing season is the best time of year, once it gets warmer to see all the lambs running and jumping in the fields is the best sight, it’s adorable.”

And visitors have flocked to see the fluffy new additions to the farm, who were able to bound about just ten minutes after their birth.

“The children love seeing the lambs and they are so cute. The mother is very maternal and is also very protective of her babies,” Pippa said.

Frolicking in the fields and enjoying the sun is next on the beautiful babies’ agenda, with Pippa saying she was amazed the mother was able to carry five healthy lambs to term.

“To think there was 20 little legs kicking around inside of her is unbelievable,” she said.