Rare triplet calves born on Wisconsin dairy farm
FOOTVILLE, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin dairy farm is celebrating the birth of a rare set of triplet calves.
Steve Case says the calves were born Friday on his farm in Footville. Their mother wasn’t due to give birth until Aug. 10, but she had been acting strangely for a while. He heard her bellowing, went in the barn and found the calves.
Case says in 33 years of farming, he’s had many sets of twin calves but never triplets.
Dr. Ray Pawlisch, of Brodhead Veterinary Medical Center, says few triplet calves are born alive and healthy because there are usually complications.
He told The Janesville Gazette that a 2006 study by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher found triplets occur in less than one-third of 1 percent of Holstein pregnancies.
