The Fitzmaurice families, Leagh Holsteins herd had an unexpected surprise last month: The birth of triplet heifer calves.
The calves were born to Shamrock Barbie EX92, a nine-year-old cow in her sixth lactation and were sired by Stanton’s Chief.
The triplets were born to an artificial insemination (AI) service and, as Barbie scanned as carrying twins, were as mentioned – a surprise.
Speaking to Agriland, Lauren from Leagh Holsteins said that there is a one in 400,000 chance of triplets being born within the Holstein breed.
Leagh Holstein
The calves were born on Anne and Johnny O’Hanlon’s Golden Hill Farm in Ballyduff, Co. Kerry.
The Fitzmaurice family exited milk production in 2007, but Leagh Holsteins continues to specialise in breeding pedigree Holstein heifers.
The family now focuses on introducing and developing new cow families not seen in Ireland, or even Europe.
Their system would be described as being unusual, with suckler cows used to carry embryos and a number of dairy cows owned by the family milking in other herds.
Triplet heifer calves
The calves’ dam is Shamrock Barbie, in her sixth lactation she is projected to produce 11,310kg of milk at 3.77% fat and 3.54% protein.
This equates to 838kg of milk solids in a 305-day lactation.
Milking in a robotic system on the O’Hanlon farm, she is producing 51L daily.
The calves have been named after the PowerPuff Girls, with Lauren explaining that her students helped name them.
The calves are called Leagh Chief Buttercup, Leagh Chief Blossom and Leagh Chief Bubblegum.
The calves are maternal sisters to two EX-classified 10,000L cows.
Shamrock Barbie’s fourth grandam is Regancrest PR Barbie EX92 GMD and she is one of the most renowned cows in the US.
Black and White sale
Lauren also told Agriland that Leagh Holsteins hopes to offer a choice of these heifer calves at the Black & White Sale in Carlisle in early December 2022.
According to Lauren, this would be the first time that a first choice of triplet heifer calves will be offered at a sale.
The calves will be three months old and will not physically travel to the sale. Lauren said that they currently have no plans for the other calves.