Document text
RAIN Temp: 42 °F Wind: SSW at 3 mph Monday, April 21, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 24, 2003 Holly Gamble, 13, left, and her sister, 10-year-old Grace, hold lambs (from left) Patrick, Gretel, Rob Roy and Paddy. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Black sheep leads quartet of lambs Series of births from a favorite ewe surprises Central Point family By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — When Gretchen, the Gamble family’s sheep, gave birth to a black lamb on St. Patrick’s Day morning, something was hiding under all that wool. "I thought, you know? She still looks awfully fat," owner Mary Gamble says. "I wonder if there’s another one inside." Three more lambs later, Gretchen became the proud ewe of a somewhat rare set of quadruplets that has the Gambles wondering if someone laced their hay with fertility drugs. "I wonder if there’s something in our water," Gamble says. "Actually, it was pretty exciting." The rack of tiny lambs are all knees and noses, but they are all healthy and expected to survive, though the two smallest ones still must be bottle-fed, she says. Studies show that quadruplets occur only in one out of 1,000 sheep births, says Dr. Jim Thompson, the sheep specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service in Corvallis. Gretchen is a Coopworth sheep, a breed that Thompson says was devised in New Zealand and created with multiple births in mind. The Gambles took little mind early St. Patrick’s Day until a trip to Gretchen’s stall revealed one black lamb, later named Grettel, already up and walking. An hour later, Gamble — a self-proclaimed "city girl" — took to wondering whether the still plump ewe was OK. So she reached inside and pulled out Patrick, a white male. "Then I thought, hmm, I wonder if there’s another one in there," she says. She reached in, and out came Paddy, a white female. "I thought, that has to be it," she says. "But I wanted to make sure." Gamble dug deep and found Rob Roy, a white male named after the Scottish Highlander, not the drink. "After Rob Roy, I couldn’t imagine any more being in there," she says. "But I still checked." Gamble says her three home-schooled children witnessed the births, "so we had a science project and a health project all in one." The ewe and her four lambs will be entered in 4-H competitions at the fair by 10-year-old Grace Gamble. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S