Belmullet ram producing the goods on Ballycastle farm

LAMBING SEASON  Jason Moran, a nephew of farmer MicheΡl Walsh, with the ewe and her quadruplet lambs which were born on the farm recently.

Anton McNulty

When Ballycastle sheep-farmer, MicheΡl Walsh bought a pure bred Texal Ram in Belmullet little did he realise the impact that ram would have on the size of his flock.
Since buying the prized ram just over a year ago, it has helped to produce ten sets of triplets and last week he outdid himself by becoming the proud sire to quadruplets. The four new arrivals to the family farm in Doonfeeney, Ballycastle were born on Saturday, March 10 and according to MicheΡl’s wife, Breeda, their arrival took them by surprise.
“The ewe was scanned and it showed that she was expecting triplets so when four arrived it was a bit of a surprise,” she said. “We were not expecting the ewe to give birth when she did as there was no sign on her the evening before. When MicheΡl went down to the shed at 6am, they were there waiting for him. She did it all on her own and she even brought the lambs outside away from the rest of the flock. When he found them they were lying against the wall all comfortable and doing well.”
There are three ewe lambs and one ram lamb in the happy brood and since their birth, Breeda said they are being treated like royalty. Unusually the ewe has enough milk for all four to feed on and they do not need to be separated.
The ewe who gave birth to them is a Suffolk Texal Cross and last year she also gave birth to triplets. Breeda says the new Belmullet ram is getting all the credit for the increase in the flock size.
“The ram has produced ten sets of triplets in the last year which is very unusual and MicheΡl says he never seen anything like this before in all his years of farming. The ram was a triplet himself and MicheΡl believes that is why he is producing so many lambs. It is a lot more work for MicheΡl but he is delighted,” she laughed.
The Walshs have 70 breeding ewes on their farm and at the moment they are a third of a way through the lambing process. With the way the Belmullet ram has been operating, expect a lot more lambs to be born on the Walsh farm.