Year in Review: Identical triplet beef calves - farmer un-mooved by rare occurrence

A beef cow with her identical triplet calves. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery

The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months, including readers' favourites, huge news events and those yarns that gave us a glimpse into rural lives and livelihoods across the country.

By Sally Rae, Otago Daily Times. Originally published November 16.

Herd about the cow with triplets? It’s no bull.

When George Hope brought beef cows and calves in off his hill block on the Rock and Pillar Range recently for calf marking, he found a rare sight - a cow with three identical calves.

While exact figures on the probability of a cow having triplets were difficult to find, it was an unusual occurrence, and North American sources suggested the odds of a triplet calving in beef cattle are about one in 105,000, with dairy triplets still unusual, but more likely.

In a pregnancy scan, the cow was identified to be bearing twins and, in typical laid-back farmer fashion, Hope was unfazed by the extra arrival.

“I wouldn’t call it a special cow, it’s just another cow. She just pulled something out of the hat.”

As expected, the calves were not big but they were all doing well, he said.