Science

NZ plans four-nippled sheep

Too many lambs, not enough teats

Lester Haines Wed 21 Mar 2007 // 10:37 UTC

New Zealand scientists plan to tackle the thorny problem of ewes producing more lambs than they have nipples to accommodate, by simply upping mum's teat-count, Stuff.co.nz reports.

Apparently, NZ's ovine population has become more fertile over the past 10 years and females often drop triplets. AgResearch Invermay scientist George Davis solemnly explained: "A triplet, if he is the runt of the litter, is usually doomed."

Accordingly, Davis is scouring sheep flocks for ewes with four nipples, and hopes to use them to assemble a flock "from which rams can be bred to pass on this trait". ®

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