PROLIFIC ROMNEY EWE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20902, 18 June 1931, Page 3

PROLIFIC ROMNEY EWE.

FIVE HEALTHY LAMBS.

Officials of flio College of Agriculture at llio University of California recently forwarded to tho Pastoral Review particulars of a remarkably prolific lambing performance by a pure-bred Romney Marsh ewe, owned by Dr. E. E. Brownell, of San Francisco. They stato that on March 18 the owe gave birth to six lambs. Ono lamb died tlio clay following birth, but the other fivo were living and thriving a fortnight later. This remarkable ewo was dropped in April, 1926, and is therefore five years old. Records indicnto that sho herself was a single lamb. The sire of the six lambs was " Matthews ]39" (A.R.8.2021), a ram which Dr. Brownell imported from New Zealand. Tlio same ram also sired all of the ewe's previous lambs. The sexes of the sexlet te wero evenly divided, tlioro being three rams and three ewes. Birth weights woro not obtained, but on March 20, when the lambs wore about 49 hours, old,; they wero weighed. Three of tho lambs, being artificially fed, had received 110 milk for three hours previous to weighing, Hib oilier two wero with the ewe. It is probable that tho weights given by tho officers of .the college aro very close to the birth weights. These weights were: —71b. SJlb., 631b., 541b., 6Jib., and 41b., as tho estimated weight of tho hum) which died. Thus tho combined birth weight of all six was about 351b. Somo years ago a Dorset Horn ewe, owned by a Victorian breeder, gave birth to five lambs. That, so far as is known, is the Australian record.