Lamb born with five legs in UK as farmer stunned by ‘one in a million’ birth on 2/2/22
Five-legged lambs are extremely rare - it is thought to only happen to one lamb in a million
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A one in a million lamb has been born in Northumberland - with an extra leg.
Lambing season is well underway at Whitehouse Farm near Morpeth, but one of the new arrivals surprised part-owner Heather Hogarty.
Five-legged lambs are extremely rare and Heather says it is only the second time she has seen it in her 25 years at Whitehouse Farm.
Heather said: “You could see it as soon as it was born, it’s on the front left side so it’s just another leg that comes out of the shoulder.
“It is unusual, but animals having something a bit different does happen - we get many animals born with disabilities, but you don’t see them as often as sadly they get put down.
“We think as long as it is going to live a normal live, we will just keep it. We’re just keeping an eye on this one at the minute, so it might have to have the leg removed.”
In a twist of fate, the lamb - who is yet to be given a name - was born in a set of triplets on February 22 - or 2/2/22.
Whitehouse Farm Centre is a 40-acre family-run venture which opened to the public and school groups in 1997.
The five-legged lamb was born almost a decade after Quinto, another Whitehouse Farm lamb born with five legs.
Quinto’s extra limb was in the centre of her body, and eventually had to be removed - but she went on to live a long life and even gave birth to her own lambs.
Heather added: “We had one nine years ago but that leg was right in the centre of her stomach while this one comes out the shoulder and doesn’t reach the ground.
“When the new lamb was born I was thinking it was Quinto reincarnated.
She was born on April Fools Day and people thought we had stitched it on as a joke.
“They are the only two odd things we’ve had here, and we’ve been open to the public for 25 years now.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments