Maybe it's something in the grass or maybe it's simply nature's approval – but an organic, family-run farm has been blessed by the birth of quadruplet lambs – for the second time this year.

Rudolph, Amy, Jessie and Ruby were born on Thursday at Peradon Organic Farm in Clyst Hydon near Cullompton, and are the second lot of quadruplets to be born from the same ewe at the farm this year.

And yet, up until February, the farm had not seen any quads for 40 years.

Farmer Jonathan Burrough, 32, said: "We've always thought our animals are outstanding and now we're even more convinced that there really is something extra special about the grass they're eating.

"It's truly amazing that this is the second time for this to happen this year."

The lambs were born at 4am and were watched by Jonathan's mother Shirley, aged 78, who is still actively farming. She said: "I pinched myself as I felt sure I must be dreaming when a fourth little lamb appeared on the scene.

"It's some achievement for the ewe to have pulled it off twice in a year."

The new additions mean that 40 lambs have been born at Peradon since mid-December.