Amphitheatre beef farmers Phil and Lynette Cocking have just welcomed a rare set of triplet heifer calves and a set of twins on a neighbouring property.
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Mr and Mrs Cocking manage about 40 cattle at neighbours Jeffrey and Jean Huntington's property, and are mid-way through their autumn calving.
Mr Cocking said he noticed one of his cows was having trouble last week and decided to call the veterinarian.
"A cow was having a bit of trouble and she'd been going since about 2pm so I got her in, something felt funny and I started investigating and something didn't feel right," he said.
"Her water hadn't broken so I called the vet and luckily she wasn't far so she just had to come over the hill."
The Cockings' veterinarian Helen Spencer, Ararat, helped deliver the first calf before realising there was a second calf on the way.
"She broke the water and got the first one which was fairly groggy," he said.
"Helen had a look because [the first calf] was reasonably small and then she said there was another one there, so we had the two [calves] and she had another look, and saw there was more.
"Helen got the phone out and was taking photos of it - she'd never had it happen and was very excited.
"She said it seemed like it should be happy Friday but it was Thursday night."
The couple checked on the calves throughout the night.
"We went up at about 10pm that night and put [the cow] with them again and she wanted to take two of them but didn't want the third one," Mr Cocking said.
"We gave them a feed and I went up pretty early and she was still taking two of them but wasn't taking the first so my wife decided to take it home to bottle feed."
They named the calf Glory, and said she appeared to be happy, healthy and feeding well.
"They're really good now, all three of them, [the mum's] feeding them twice a day and the other two [calves] are in a holding yard," he said.
"I let her out a few days ago and they went running down the paddock and I've checked them everyday since."
The set of triplets and a surprise set of twins were sired by the same Murdeduke Angus bull that they recently purchased.
He said he had about nine or 10 calves left to deliver this autumn.
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Rachel Simmonds
Rachel is an agricultural journalist for Australian Community Media's Stock & Land. She covers all aspects of Victoria's farming community and industry. To get in contact, email rachel.simmonds@stockandland.com.au
Rachel is an agricultural journalist for Australian Community Media's Stock & Land. She covers all aspects of Victoria's farming community and industry. To get in contact, email rachel.simmonds@stockandland.com.au
