Farming rarity
• Three’s a crowd: triplet Angus heifers born at Ferny Hill over the weekend.
By Taylor Clyne
August 05, 2020
It’s a case of third time the charm with a set of heifer triplets being born at Kerguelen Farm on Ferny Hill Road over the weekend, a rarity that happens one in every 700,000.
The six-generation property owned by Sally and Keith Lethborg lease some of their land to McDougall brothers, Paul and Mark who run a beef breeding operation on the undulating ground.
Farm manager Jess Thompson said the birth of triplets came at quite the surprise.
“We’ve just started calving season and these were the very first lot to hit the ground,” she said.
“The Angus mother had them all by herself throughout the night; I found the wonderful surprises in the morning.
The heifers have affectionately been named Milly, Mavis and Mabel McDougall, with another 110 paddock mates still on their way.
Miss Thompson said in the past she has only seen sets of twins.
“Things like this is what I love about my job; I just love the calves and am pleased to see they are really healthy and mums looking good.
“We’ll just let her do her job now and keep a watch that they are all being fed from afar.”
In any case, it’s clear triplet calves are quite uncommon in the normal cattle population and it's particularly pleasing given the current pricing market.
That’s three for the price of one but triple the income, a win win win!