June 27, 2024 – Hartford, WI – “First time in my 41 years on the farm, we had triplets,” said Doreen Berndt-Paral at Berndt’s Family Farm in Hartford. The herdsman messaged Doreen around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night. “Two girls and one boy,” she said.
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All were healthy, including the mom who just had to be exhausted.
Some fun farm facts:
– Each calf weighed between 65 and 70 pounds.
– Before birth, mama cow tipped the scales at about 2,000 pounds. “She was a big girl,” said Doreen.
– A normal dairy cow is about 1,600 pounds.
– The gestation period… 9 months. Doreen said the cow gave birth right on schedule.
On Wednesday afternoon Doreen stood in the calf barn looking at the babies. All black in color. One calf stood up. “She’s so tiny but she’s all there,” said Doreen.
The calves were separated from their mother and fed colostrum.
”I understand it all went very well,” said Doreen. “We did not have to call Dr. Pol.”
The healthy triplets are a sign of good luck. “My daughter said we had triplets a few years ago but none survived,” said Doreen.
The Berndt’s Family Farm on County Road S is over 100 years old, and the fifth generation is working the farm.
Doreen said while on the farm, she’s seen a c-section with a cow, but this is her first experience with triplets.
Sniffing around the internet, it appears with dairy cows there is a 1 in 10,000 chance at triplets. There’s also an 80 percent chance of survival.
Doreen said all the calves are thriving.
