When five legs is better than four

PICTURE: Sheep shearer Emily Spencer of Longford with the ewe with an extra leg.

A lamb with a fifth leg has been saved by a young female sheep shearer who took pity on the unusual ewe.

Emily Spencer of Longford had the deformed lamb pointed out to her by her partner while he was marking lambs on a Midlands property.

She said something about it being different to the rest and having its fate decided so young made her take it home and add it to her flock of composite ewes.

“I just felt sorry for it and trailered it home,” Emily said.

“She’s not at all bothered by the extra leg on her neck and is happy and healthy – but she does look funny when she runs.”

Emily’s theory is that the deformity, a leg that hangs around her neck like a scarf, relates back to twins that didn’t separate properly after conception. “I’ve asked farmers and shearers and no-one seems to have across anything like it,” Emily said.

The 21-year-old, who grew up in Perth and now works for Brodie Carpenter’s Low ‘n’ Level company, has been shearing for three years and loves it.Now a regular on the Speed Shear circuit, she also leases land and breeds her own composite sheep for meat production.

Ignoring all jokes about the value of producing an extra leg of lamb for the oven, Emily said that the special sheep won’t be used for breeding or be slaughtered.

“People who see her are shocked but sometimes it’s okay to be an individual.”