HOLY COWS!
‘ONE-IN-MILLION’ TRIPLET COWS BORN IN AREA ARE ‘THRIVING’
A WONDER COW from St Mullins delivered triplet calves recently in a onein-a-million natural occurence.
Michael and Maura Doyle of Ballycrinegan, St Mullins, got the surprise of their farming lives when the triplets were born on July 1st.
Four months on and the triplet heifers have, under the care and attention of the Doyle’s and their three daughters Frances, Elizabeth and Mary, achieved the impossible by surviving.
Maura Doyle said: ‘ The triplets were born on July 1st this year. They are three heifers, but not identical. When they were born the cow reared two of the calves and one was being bucket fed. Nobody in our area can remember a cow with live triplets.
‘Our neighbour, Pat Murphy, delivered the calves. They don’t have names, but we were very excited when they arrived and many local farmers called to see them over the following days.’
The Doyle’s have no plans on selling their treasured calves, who are getting extra special attention on their farm.
‘We hope to keep them for breeding in the future. My husband, Michael, was diagnosed with MS in 1992, and has been wheelchair dependent for many years so some of our land is rented out to a local farmer, and we only keep 14 cows now.’
The Doyle’s oldest daughter, Mary, is a pharmacist who works in Irishtown Pharmacy in New Ross. Elizabeth is a nurse in Crumlin Children’s Hospital and Frances is a student in St Patrick’s College in Drumcondra. ‘ The triplets calves was a joyful event for the whole family. They are doing great. Live triplets are rare.’
Following the birth of triplet calves in Portlaw, County Waterford, earlier this year, Wicklow-based vet Tommy Heffernan described triplet calves surviving as extremely rare.
‘Over the last 15 years I have calved three sets of triplets and none survived,’ he said.