These two young ranchers are only 10 and 13 years old, but they’ve already had a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience after their cow had an extremely rare birth.
Brothers Riley and Austin Fisher, 10 and 13, are fifth-generation ranchers from Saint Anthony, North Dakota.
According to The Jamestown Sun, they were instructed by their parents to check on their cows, and they noticed that one of them had given birth to a baby calf. Austin said that the mama cow “looked like she was gonna have another one,” so they checked in again an hour later.
To their amazement, the cow had given birth to not one but two more healthy baby calves — she had given birth to triplets, a very rare occurrence in cows.
“I was excited because this was the first time I had ever seen triplets. And I didn’t know, like, how rare they were,” Austin told the Jamestown Sun. “So then I looked it up. And, there is, the chances are one in 105,000.”
Even more remarkable was the fact that all three babies were bulls: the odds of cow triplets being all the same sex is 1-in-700,000, the young rancher said.
It’s also rare for cow triplets to all survive after birth, but the three newborns are all doing well, reportedly weighing about 35 pounds and being cared for by their mom.
“I know a lot of them that have had triplets before but none of them lived,” Austin told KFYR/Gray News. “So, for us to have them to be living, is a pretty cool deal.”
Despite their young age, both brothers have a lot of responsibilities on the farm. They each have cows of their own, and have been busy with calving season. The family has a herd of 300 cattle, according to the Jamestown Sun.
While it’s hard work, Austin told the outlet that he hopes to be in the business his “whole life.”
Wow, what a rare experience to see health cow triplets! We’re glad the three newborns are doing well!
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