Triplet calves a welcome addition
Gina Robinson and Karl Hunt are no strangers to multiple births, but were shocked when one of their cows gave birth to three healthy calves.
The Kaihere couple, who have five children including two sets of twins, said they had no idea the cow was carrying more than one calf until just before she began calving. Robinson said they had more chance of winning the lottery than a cow birthing healthy triplets.
Hunt had noticed that the cow was having trouble and felt more than four legs upon an internal examination on August 13. He assumed the cow was carrying twins.
Shortly after, Hunt pulled out one brown and one black calf, both healthy and alive.
When he went back ten minutes later, Hunt could see a head and an arm sticking out of the mother cow and so he pulled out the third calf.
‘‘We’re just amazed that they were all alive and then up and feeding off their mum within ten minutes,’’ Robinson said.
She said people had joked ‘‘we’re a fertile bunch out here and that we don’t do things by halves’’.
Robinson and Hunt have two sets of twin daughters – Amber and Bella Hunt, 10, and Paige and Braye Hunt, 3 – and son Ollie Hunt, 9.
‘‘We thought multiples are in the air I guess.’’
Robinson’s grandmother had twins but she never expected that she would have two sets herself.
Coincidentally, her twins and the triplet calves are all female.
Massey University associate professor in production animal health Richard Laven said the chances of a calving alive triplets was ‘‘about one in two million’’.
He said the chances of a cow carrying triplets was about one in 500,000 but from there it was about a one in four chance that all three would be born alive.
‘‘It’s a really low chance of being all alive and healthy,’’ Laven said.
He said cows were not built to carry more than one calf at a time, and if they were smaller than usual they would need ‘‘a little extra attention to get going’’.
However, he said the calves were likely to be fine and ‘‘a good bit of attention will minimise any risks’’.