Bovine surprise: Rare triplets arrive

When Bobby and Merilyn Ward made their early morning rounds on Sept. 2 to check on their cattle, they were both charmed and delighted to find three newborn bull calves — all from the same mother.
She had given birth, by herself, during the early morning hours.
“Our vet told us that triplets happen one time for every 105,000 pregnancies,” Merilyn Ward said.
The Wards keep a standing herd of registered black angus cattle of about 100 on their farm between Palmersville and Latham.
“As time goes on we send some calves to market but we keep a few to provide on-going breeding stock,” Bobby Ward said.
The mother cow doesn’t produce enough milk to feed all three calves.
“We have to bottle feed two of them two quarts of special milk replacer morning and night,” he said.
The Ward family has been in the cattle business since 1979.
They have seen twins before, but never triplets.
“Twins are a lot more common than triplets. We’ve had three sets born this year. Our vet told us that when triplets are born, one or two would usually die within the first two days,” Mrs. Ward said.
These calves will be fed until their weight reaches 600 or 700 pounds.
Then they will be shipped to a commercial feed lot to top out. Published in The WCP 10.25.12