There is a grand case of "ewe-four-ia" on the Parsons farm near Grand Rapids as one of their
ewes gave birth to a rare set of quadruplet lambs. Sharon and Steve Parsons are relatively new to
farming and acquired their initial flock of four sheep (two ewes and two lambs) just last year. In late
March their flock grew to 10 within a span of five days as the two now-grown lambs each gave birth for
the first time, with the other delivering twins.
Though they have not found any exact odds, everything they hear is that quadruplet lambs are "very
rare."
Sharon Parsons said: "That’s the exact phrase we have heard most often, ‘very’ or ‘extremely’
rare."
"I’m 63 and learning how to farm," Steve Parsons said.
His wife added, "We are the type who learn by doing."
That learning curve accelerated with the addition of the new lambs. All of the sheep are Black Suffolk, a
breed noted for its black and open face.
In addition to the sheep, the farm also has a llama named Faith.
He explained there are coyotes in the area of the farm situated on the Henry-Lucas county line and the
llama serves as a protector for the sheep. They bought all the animals together when they founded their
Parsons Countyline Farm LLC.
While the couple named the llama and the two older ewes when they bought them, they chose not to name the
two younger lambs.
"We agreed to name the first one to give birth Mary," Steve Parsons said.
Mary gave birth to twins five days before her sister surprised everyone with the quads. After giving
birth to the quadruplets, the couple realized they would name Mary’s sister, Martha.
"That is from the biblical story of the sisters Mary and Martha, because Martha did all of the
work," Sharon Parsons said noting with the quads that mother sheep had to do more in giving birth
and caring for her lambs."
Her husband explained the surprise was because Martha had been the smaller of the two until just a few
days before giving birth when he says she "just went boom," spreading his arms wide to
illustrate her late growth. Even during the birthing, they were still only expecting twins. In fact, he
had left the farm to get supplies when he learned of the additional lambs.
After doing their research, they understood that often in such multiple births one or more lambs often do
not survive and when they do, often the mother may reject one or two.
They quickly got into action and obtained the bottles and needed supplement food to care for the lambs.

"We are very excited that all of them survived," said Sharon Parsons. "That is always in
doubt."
"She is doing great with them and feeding them all," her husband said of Martha.
They indicated that "1" and "4" seem to take more from their mother than the other
two new lambs.
The couple explained the quadruplets have been numbered for identification purposes, primarily for
feeding to be sure each is properly fed.
"I just took a marker and wrote 1, 2, 3 and 4 on them," Sharon Parsons said.
Each lamb is bottle fed to supplement their feeding from Martha.
"Faith is a gentle giant," Sharon Parsons said of the llama. "If Martha is not near,
instinctively the lambs go to her instead."
The couple also have a golden retriever and some cats and all the animals get along very well together.

As to why they decided to farm they explained in their introduction to their project of opening up their
farm to the public with a country store, farmer’s market and flea market each weekend. They wanted to
have animals on the farm for the visitors to pet and enjoy.
The couple are presently converting one of the out buildings to become the store and are planning its
opening the weekend of April 26-27.
As a side benefit of the birth of the quadruplets, they are hoping people will come visit the lambs as
they check out their new venture. The farm is located on a dead-end section of Henry Lucas Road between
the old U.S. Route 24 and the new four-lane version of the highway.