A farmer in the US initially expected one of their cows to have a single calf until an ultrasound, conducted by their vet, indicated that she was carrying twins. However, in fact, she had triplet heifers earlier this week.
According to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, when the cow went into labour, the owners could feel the calf’s tail, meaning it was backwards in a breech position.
Therefore, they enlisted the help of the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Dr Michelle Carman and Dr Joe Lozier.
When they examined her, they were able to correct and pull the first calf followed by the second.
When checking for any trauma to the uterus and birth canal, they identified the presence of a third.
Triplet heifers
In a statement, a spokesperson for the college said: “Sure enough, there were triplets!”
“All three were females and all 47 lbs. They all remarkably have similar colour patterns.”
“According to Dr. Jeffrey Lakritz and Dr. Marco Coutinho da Silva, since the cow was implanted with one embryo, but she actually delivered triplets, this suggests the embryo split twice, which is rare.”
“Triplets are uncommon compared to twins, and further diagnostics are needed to confirm they were identical,” the spokesperson concluded.
Highland triplets
Meanwhile, last year, we reported that a Highland cow defied the odds of up to a million to one by delivering a set of triplet calves on a farm in Scotland.
David Laing – STAC A CHAGAIR fold, Musadale – was told to expect two calves from Ceiteag of Stac A Chagair.
According to the Highland Cattle Society, after seeing the expected twins safely delivered, he returned to his house in Muasdale for the night.
“The next day, I came up and standing there was the mother and two calves,” he told the society.
“Then I heard this noise, and I wondered what it was. I heard it again, and two seconds later, a third calf came out of the rushes.”
“I got quite a surprise. We were expecting twins, but we got a wee bonus,” he added.
