Vermont Farm Welcomes Rare Lamb Sextuplets

On April 9, 2026, a ewe named Teemu gave birth to six lambs at Clover & Bee Farm in Underhill, Vermont. The lambs, partially Finnsheep, are numbered one through six in Finnish. All six lambs and their mother are reported to be thriving.

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextupletsThe Independent

Anne O'Connor and her husband Gunnar operate Clover & Bee Farm, a fifth-summer operation that raises sheep for wool and cultivates herbs and berries. The same ewe previously delivered quadruplets; the current sextuplets raise the flock to 21 animals, with five other ewes now pregnant. The O'Connors intend to keep four ewes and rehome the two male lambs.

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextupletsThe Independent

Estimates of sextuplet births vary widely. Anne O'Connor cites a frequency of roughly one in 1,000 lambings, while several agricultural websites place the odds at one in a million or higher. The Vermont Sheep & Goat Association confirmed only one other shepherd in its records has documented a comparable litter.

The Independent

Kristen Judkins of Gilead Fiber Farm, who has raised a ewe with sextuplets three years in a row, notes that such lambs take longer to reach full body weight.

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets

Shepherds advise close monitoring during the first weeks and recommend vigilant feeding to prevent growth delays, highlighting the nutritional challenges of multiple births.

The Independent

The Vermont Sheep & Goat Association verified the exceptional nature of the sextuplet birth and offered guidance on nutrition, health monitoring, and record-keeping, emphasizing that with proper care most sextuplet lambs survive to adulthood.

The Independent

The primary discrepancy concerns the statistical rarity of sextuplet lambings; sources differ between a 1 in 1,000 estimate and a 1 in 1,000,000 estimate, reflecting limited nationwide data on extreme multiple births in sheep.

The Independent

• “I was a little bit suspicious, just given how big she was and that she was going a little earlier, that she might have more than two,” — Anne O'Connor, farmer

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets

• “They do take longer to reach full body weight, but most do just fine,” — Kristen Judkins, Gilead Fiber Farm

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets

• “She’s still very much in her reproductive years, so probably a year or more and she’ll just, you know, be able to put her hooves up.” — Anne O'Connor, farmer

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets

• “O'Connor said she has been in touch with the Vermont Sheep & Goat Association about the births, and the group found only one other shepherd had a sheep give birth to so many lambs.” — Vermont Sheep & Goat Association

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets

The O'Connors plan to give Teemu a short rest before her next breeding season. With five ewes already pregnant and the sextuplets thriving, the farm expects the flock to continue expanding while the two male lambs are placed in new homes.

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She had rare sextuplets