In many cultures, the number three is considered lucky. And for the Perreault family, the lucky number three came into play as their five-year-old Simmental cow gave birth to triplets on Jan. 9.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to have on a farm, so we were pretty excited,” farm owner Allen Perreault said.
The cow gave birth during the wee hours of the morning, and Perreault said it wasn't a surprise to see two calves, as the mother was quite big. He had seen twin calves before, so he and his wife were unfazed.
However, as he was helping with the birth, Perreault noticed the small size of the two calves and started to become curious. He went to double-check and felt another pair of legs remaining in the mother’s womb.
“Twins are not common, but we’ll usually get four or five sets of twins between our 70 cows,” Perreault said. “But triplets are pretty rare.”
While the third male calf came as an a-moo-sing surprise, it also concerned Perreault a bit.
“He was backwards, and he came out backwards. We didn’t think he was going to make it,” Perreault said.
The rancher said calves are supposed to arrive headfirst to have their first breath. But because the third calf’s legs were facing out, he couldn’t have his first breath because of the mucus in his lungs.
"That was kind of the tricky part with the last one because he was kind of in there, and it was probably pretty packed in there with three calves," Perreault said. "So, they get a little twisted up in there.”
The luck of the number three held, however, as the Perreault family worked on the little guy to get him breathing, and “then he pulled through and made it.”
“We’re lucky we caught it. We were watching her, so she was calving, but we had no idea there’d be three,” Perreault said. “It came out better than usual. Most times, they don’t survive.”
Perreault said the mother and nameless triplets are doing well, but they are still quite small as they stay in the barn because of the cold. The two female calves are being fed by the mother, while the family is bottle feeding the third. Perreault explained the mother doesn't have enough milk to feed all three.
The farm owner also said that his family has been “babying” them a bit, but that’s probably because of the excitement of this rare event.
“I always tease the wife because she’s always out there with me. I’m like, ‘Oh, I think there’s another one.’ And then this time, for sure, there was. She’s here like, ‘You’re lying.’ I’m like, ‘No, there’s legs.’ And then when I pulled them out, she’s like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe it!’ She was pretty excited,” Perreault said. “She even called her mom and dad at four in the morning.”
The female calves will stay with their mother, as she has enough milk to feed them. Perreault says the male calf will be bottle-fed and possibly taken by his son to the 4-H club in Busby.
