Three in a row for Halkirk farm
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They say that two's company and three's a crowd but in the world of cattle breeding three is a definite rarity according to artificial insemination specialist Willie Mackay.
Mr Mackay told the paper how farmer Graeme Gunn got "an unbelievable surprise last week" when he went to assist with the calving of one of his Simmental cows at his father’s farm in Carsgoe, Halkirk – the six-year-old cow produced triplets.
"The chances of triplets in cattle breeding are very rare. In fact, the odds are 100,000 to one," he said.
The calves were sired by the farm's Simmental stock bull Team Glencoe and are out of a Corskie bred Simmental cow.
"The first calf to arrive was in a breached position and the two that followed came by the heels, making the births quite tricky for Graeme," added Mr Mackay.
Carsgoe farm carries 500 acres of mixed grazing and has a breeding herd of 130 Simmental cows. All the triplets, believed to be the farm's first ever, are doing well.
