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Born at 900 grams tiny Wally the twin lamb is lucky to be alive

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Ben Polnher and his wife Sarah thought they were done with nappies and midnight feeds with their three daughters now in high school â€" until a tiny arrival in the back paddock changed everything.

Key points:
  • Old hands say it is a miracle tiny baby lamb Wally is alive, after being born at just 900 grams
  • But the very small dorper sheep has been kept alive by a trained midwife, Sarah Polnher after her husband, Ben, found Wally by accident in his field
  • While Wally's gained weight, he is not out of the woods yet

    • Mr Polnher said he went out to check on a ewe that had given birth to a boy lamb, when he noticed a small white thing on the ground.

    "I didn't even recognise it as a lamb initially," Mr Polnher said.

    The tiny shivering form was Wally, a very small dorper sheep that weighed around 900 grams when he was born, while his twin was a regular two kilograms.

    Wally really is very small.

    He was born just slightly bigger than a can of soft drink, and all advice from surrounding farms was that they had never seen or heard of any lamb so small, and the best thing to do was to end Wally's life.

    A very small miniature lamb curled up in a sad, hapless pose facing down, next to a can of cokeA very small miniature lamb curled up in a sad, hapless pose facing down, next to a can of coke Wally was barely larger than a can of soft drink when he was born.(

    Supplied: Ben Polnher

    )

    Mr Polnher did not think Wally would survive and had been preparing himself to perform the difficult task of putting the tiny, floppy bundle of bones "out of its misery". 

    But it wasn't going to happen on his wife's watch.

    "I thought there's no way he could survive, he was so close to death, just minutes away," Mr Polnher said.

    "When we brought him inside, he could hardly move.

    "He couldn't raise his head, couldn't stand, couldn't walk. I thought we were wasting our time.

    "But my wife said, 'No way!'" Mr Polnher laughed.

    Find more local newsMidwife Sarah comes to the rescue

    Wally's unusual birth happened during lambing season on the Polnher's spray-free vegetable farm, Volcano Produce.

    The Polnhers use a small herd of dorper sheep as a clean-up crew â€" they eat the leftovers after the vegetable harvest. 

    Lucky for little Wally, he was born into a very caring family and one with an in-house midwife.

    Midwife Sarah Polnher holds tiny lamb with one hand and uses a syringe to feed him colostrumMidwife Sarah Polnher holds tiny lamb with one hand and uses a syringe to feed him colostrum Midwife Sarah Polnher feeding Wally life-saving colostrum.(

    Supplied: Ben Polnher

    )

    Sarah Polnher works at the Warrnambool Base Hospital and there was no way she would give up on any baby, whether human or animal.

    She used her expertise to bring Wally back from the brink.

    A woman reclined on a leather couch with a tiny lamb on her chest, cuddled under a blanket.A woman reclined on a leather couch with a tiny lamb on her chest, cuddled under a blanket. Sarah Polnher cuddles Wally during his first days, keeping him warm.(

    Supplied: Ben Polnher

    )

    "I do deal with premmie babies and little newborns," Ms Polnher said.

    "All advice is that, if Wally didn't get colostrum into him within the first 24 hours, he had no chance."

    Ms Polnher had never milked a ewe before, but she had assisted new mothers to express milk, so she adapted her skill set from the maternity ward to the barn.

    After successfully expressing the colostrum from a ewe who had never been milked in its life, Ms Polnher enlisted her three teenage daughters to help with hourly feeds via a syringe.

    Tween-aged girl smiling while holding a tiny pink pair of briefs meant for a dollTween-aged girl smiling while holding a tiny pink pair of briefs meant for a doll The Polnher's daughter, Hannah, holds the doll's briefs they stuffed with tissues as Wally's newborn nappy.(

    ABC South West Victoria: Emily Bissland

    )

    The family also adapted some doll's clothes into a makeshift nappy, since Wally had to stay inside by the fire in order to survive Warrnambool's brisk winter nights.

    Wally is battling the oddsA tiny lamb the size of a farmer's boot, wearing a pastel tartan woollen coat in paddock with normal lambs towering over himA tiny lamb the size of a farmer's boot, wearing a pastel tartan woollen coat in paddock with normal lambs towering over him So far, Wally hates being in the paddock with his flock but the Polnhers hope he will one day join them.(

    ABC South West Victoria: Emily Bissland

    )

    With the 24-hour care of the Polnher family during lockdown, Wally has been thriving.

    Three weeks on, he now weighs two kilograms, has learnt to jump on command, and follows his human flock everywhere they go. 

    He has a social media presence thanks to his proud 'dad' Ben, who posts video and photo updates on the farm's Facebook page. 

    Wally even goes to the Saturday farmer's market and is a popular attraction at the Polnhers' stall.

    Mr Polnher says Wally seems healthy and strong, but he isn't completely out of the woods.

    A recent unknown eye condition has in the past few days completely blinded Wally and, although he is still as happy as ever, he gets lost easily and bumps into objects continually. 

    "Not many lambs this size make it past that month, so if he can make it past that month, yeah, we'll be cheering," Mr Polnher said.

    A tiny lamb with a black face and white body stands amongst a field of yellow daffodils and is shorterA tiny lamb with a black face and white body stands amongst a field of yellow daffodils and is shorter Wally is not yet as tall as a daffodil.(

    ABC South West Victoria: Emily Bissland

    )

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