BALZAC, Alta. Ñ On a crispy cold February morning Don Francis went out to check his cows to see how many calves had arrived overnight.
One of his favourites, a seven-year-old Black Angus named Annie, had grown so heavy with calf that she couldn’t pass through the chutes and could barely get through the gates.
Twins, he decided.
“When I came out in the morning, there were three babies. I thought, what the heck, triplets?”
The healthy youngsters were born Feb. 11 and have already been registered with the Canadian Angus Association.
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The mother has not rejected any of them and is feeding them all. At times, all three gather round for a quick drink before they run off to frolic in the maternity pen.
The bull calf was born breech and weighed 70 pounds while the two heifers weighed 45 and 60 lb. They are all about the same height but the two females are thinner than their brother. Francis plans to offer them creep feed in a couple of weeks and if another one of his 28 cows loses a calf, he will move one over so it can be fostered.
The bull calf was born in a separate amniotic sac and the heifers were together so Francis hopes the females will be able to breed. In some cases, a female multiple can be sterile.
The mother of this set delivered the largest calf on the farm last year and Francis hopes it can rebreed later this spring. It is on an extra ration of grain to provide enough milk for the brood.
At one time Francis kept about 120 cows and decided to retire from the cattle business. However, his love of cows made him decide to buy a small group and he bought Red and Black Angus cows in the fall of 2003 from northern Alberta.
These cows had been raised in drought conditions and when they came to the lush pastures of the south, they gained rapidly and produced heavy calves.
Last year’s grass was especially good in the breeding season, providing plenty of high quality nutrition for the triplets’ mother.
“I think that was the key that brought her on,” said Francis.
