A dairy farm manager in Co. Meath has experienced a career first with the arrival of a rare set of triplet heifer calves.

Patrick Dunne, who manages the pedigree Fleckvieh herd on Meade Dairy Farm in Lobinstown, said the mother of the calves was expected to have twins.

After delivering two calves as expected yesterday (Friday, September 4), the 8-year-old cow shocked everyone when a third calf arrived.

"We normally have a high enough number of twins. In this calving block, I had 17 cows scanned with expected twins, which is very high," Patrick told Agriland.

"The cow that calved, she was scanned for twins but then there was an extra one that came out, to my surprise.

"She had calved two and they were all fine so I went to get one of those Reviva drinks for her and when I came back the third one was already out. It was very quick."

Calves

The odds of a cow giving birth to triplets, with all three surviving, is generally estimated at around 1 in 100,000 to 150,000 births.

However, in the case of all three calves being heifers, this multiplies the rarity even further.

"I've never seen triplets in the flesh before. You'd see a couple of articles about triplets being born, but I've never seen them actually in real life. They're not too small either, they’re not tiny,” Patrick said.

The calves, sired by Hokuspokus, are reported to be doing well today.

"I couldn't believe they're all heifers. It will be nice to have them in the herd, the three of them. I have earmarked them as replacements," Patrick said.

The cow, now in her sixth lactation, is also doing well after calving and is currently on a straw bed.

"I couldn't believe how little it took out of her. Some cows after having twins, they'd be wrecked, but there's no bother on her.

"I couldn't get over how well she looked. I did give her a bottle of calcium and two calcium boluses just to cover her," Patrick said.

The cow was among the original group of 80 pedigree Fleckvieh maiden heifers imported from Austria and Germany to establish the Meade dairy herd in the spring of 2021.

The dairy enterprise is part of the wider Meade Farm Group, which grows, packs and distributes fresh and prepared fruit and vegetables to retailers and foodservice customers.

The 140-cow farm has a year-round milking system using two Lely robotic milking machines.

Patrick said the arrival the calves has created quite a stir in the local area.

"Michelle, my wife, she was all excited. All the kids came over last night to see them. Everybody's ringing and asking, there’s a good old buzz around the place.

"The fact that they are three heifers, I think everybody is even more intrigued."