A Holstein cow on her fourth calving, and in an embroyo transfer program, has given birth to triplet heifers.
Dairy farmer Paul Cocksedge, of Nerrena (in Gippsland, Victoria), woke up to the new calves on January 7.
“I should’ve known she was going to calve. She looked quite heavy when she was moving around the day before,” Paul said.
The Holstein cow, Paco Charley Crystal 236, classified VG86, is one of his best cows. She was a calf out of Paco Minted Crystal.
“She is the only daughter I have from her,” Paul said.
“In her last 305 day lactation, Paco Charley Crystal produced 10,781 litres, with 426kg of fat and 359kg of protein.
“I knew she was special when she was the best two-year-old heifer in a 700-cow Holstein herd that I was managing at the time.
“Her production index was 124 and she got back in calf to her first joining. She also did that the following year.”
Paul decided to flush Charley to start increasing the number of calves in his herd with that breeding.
He chose BGP Yolo as the sire and imported his semen.
“I liked what he can bring to the mating,” Paul said.
“At the time, he was in the top 10 proven bulls in the USA and is rising through the ranks in Australia.
“I also used Yolo in some other cows this year. These heifers are the first ones born, about two weeks early.”
Charley’s fertility was boosted pre-joining to increase her ovulation, then the semen was artificially inseminated.
She was then flushed and the two embryos retrieved were planted in another two cows in Paul’s herd. They are due to calve in late January.
“The vet said there was a chance we’d left one embryo behind — when she didn’t come back into heat we assumed that’s what happened,” Paul said.
“When I asked him if there was a chance of twins, the vet said there was a rare chance.
“He also said if a third embryo was left behind, the cow would abort it.”
When Paul found the cow and three calves, she had already cleaned them and one was standing and suckling. The other two were laying down.
He waited a while rather than intervene and eventually all three calves were standing and had a feed.
Later in the day Paul moved the calves into the calving shed, before the forecast wild weather, and they have progressed from bottle feeding to the calf feeder.
They continue to thrive.