Monticello Cow Surprises Farmer With Rare Triplets

When farmers are breeding their cows, the goal is to get a healthy calf, not necessarily two… and certainly not THREE.

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Rhett, Ronan, and Ruby are triplet calves that were born on a Monticello farm last month.

https://www.facebook.com/JCBeef/photos/a.110484454788593/155098923660479

It’s safe to say  in Monticello was caught off guard when one of their 6-year-old cows gave birth to three calves back.

Reagan Schneiter told KCRG that they were surprised when they found all the calves.

So, there was one, then dad drives by later and there’s two and he thinks ‘that’s it,’ and he’s going to kind of focus on them and see how they’re doing and then there’s three a little while later, so it was pretty crazy.

https://www.facebook.com/JCBeef/photos/a.110484454788593/155098850327153/

Having twins on a cow operation is already an oddity. According to Kansas State University, an estimated 2 percent of beef cattle pregnancies do result in twins.

And if you ask anyone that raises cattle, they will agree that having triplets is very rare. On Schneiter Farms, Ron Schneiter says he has raised around 6,000 cattle and this is the first time he has seen triplets.

A very commonly referenced statistic that is referred to when it comes to triplets in beef cattle comes from a 1920 research paper that says the odds of this happening are 1 in 105,000.

https://youtu.be/3JGK5hTkDTI

Typically, when a farmer faces multiple births, it comes with additional challenges.

When a cow gives birth to multiple calves, it can be difficult for the mom to raise all the calves. The farmer may need to help raise the calves because it can be rare that she can provide the nutritional need for them.