Angus herd welcomes triplet sisters

Staff at a Caithness farm received an Easter gift over the weekend in the shape of triplets from one of the property’s Aberdeen Angus heifers.

There was surprise and delight in Longoe Farm’s calving shed when the Castle of Mey herd recorded its first ever triplet calves on Saturday.

See also: Dairy cow gives birth to triplets

The chances of triplets in beef cattle is around 1 in 105,000 births, according to a study that found dairy cattle, particularly Brown Swiss, had multiple births more frequently.  

Making this even rarer is the fact that all the calves are the same sex – female – and the first triplets on the farm since the herd was founded in 1964 by the late Queen Mother.

Despite being born a fortnight early, farm managers Danny and Sandy McCarthy reported the triplets – sired AI by Blelack Duke – were all healthy and soon up on their feet.