A YOUNG Eden Valley farmer had a woolly surprise when she welcomed three quadruple sets of lambs on her farm within a week.

Sian Jordan, 32, has delivered quad lambs on her farm at Low Fauld, Ruckcroft, Armathwaite, in previous lambings, and has even had one ewe who gave birth to five healthy lambs six years ago, but she admits that three sets of quads is a rare sight.

Sian, who has overcome life-changing injuries to pursue her farming dream, was expecting her two rare-breed Dutch Spotted sheep and her Dorset ewe to have triplets. "I had them all scanned, but it doesn't always get it right. But I was taken aback when we had three sets of quads," she admitted.

"The older Dutch Spotted sheep is a favourite of mine. She came from Devon as part of a flock of 12. First lambing she had twins, then quads, then triplets and twins last year. We call her Quad Ewe. I cannot bear to part with her and she will now be our pet," said Sian.

"She fed her four lambs for a few days, but is now nursing two. The other two have gone to another farm. Four is just too much for a ewe to cope with long-term," added Sian.

Despite sustaining life-changing injuries in a car crash in 2014, her spinal chord was crushed, fractured vertebrae, a leg broken in two places, and a fractured ankle, Sian was determined to buy a farm against the advice of medical experts, and her worried family.

Here she learned to ride a four-wheel scooter and electric-geared quad, which became her 'legs' around her farm.

She has devised ways of doing the daily farming chores, and although horse riding was no longer an option, she worked out a way of hoisting herself onto an exercise cart to travel miles to exercise her horses.

"Not bad eh, for someone who was told she would never walk again," said Sian.

Sian admits lambing is challenging, she has 250 ewes to lamb this year, but has help from farm worker, Dan Pearson. "The other Dutch Spotted ewe I bred myself and she is one of the best ones I have ever bred. I was going to sell her at Carlisle last August, but trade was poor, and I brought her home. She scanned triplets, so when Dan lambed her and said a fourth had arrived, I thought he was pulling my leg, but he wasn't."

Sian started lambing three weeks ago and has had little sleep, but won't be able to catch up as she is now going to start foaling her beloved horses!