Triplet calves are not that uncommon for Holstein Friesians, but in this instance, a Lincolnshire cow has given birth to three separate breeds at the same time.
Multiple births are rare enough in cows as it is; it varies by breed of cow, but generally the likelihood of a cow having twins is somewhere between 1 and 7%, not much more than the likelihood in humans (around 3 to 4%). Triplets are exponentially more rare, but not unheard of in breeds like the holstein-friesian (the classic black-and-white dairy cow). Where cows differ substantially from humans is that in artificially inseminating breeding cows, farmers often use sperm from multiple breeds. That allows for fraternal twins, in which two sperm cells meet two eggs, that are of totally different breeds.
Both different-breed twins and triplets are very rare, but familiar to high-turnaround cattle breeders. Different-breed triplets, though, is something we certainly have never seen before. The Lincolnshire cow, says its farmer, Peter Combridge, gave birth to three calves: one limousin, one simmental, and one charolais. All are healthy, even if they don’t look much like each other.
Farmer Peter Combridge, who runs a 100-cow herd averaging 9,000 litres at Brownlow Farm, near Grantham was surprised to see the three calves, which he says are all different breeds; a Limousin, a Simmental and a Charolais.
He said: “We’ve had mixed twins before, but this is the first I’ve heard of triplets. It was a real surprise.”
The fourth lactation cow was AI’d with mixed breed semen, which contains the three different breeds to extend the period over which an insemination remains viable.
All calves are reared on farm and sold at 13 months of age with a live weight of 500kg.
