A second calving Holstein dairy cow on a Tyrone farm has equalled the world record after giving birth to five healthy Belgian Blue cross calves.

The two bulls and three heifers were born last Saturday morning on Noel Moore’s farm outside Killen.

Noel told the Irish Farmers Journal that he had noticed the cow was getting very heavy three weeks ago, so he had taken the animal out of the main dry cow group to get some extra feeding. On Friday evening, the cow was restless, but after checking, she was not ready to calve. “The next morning before milking, I just thought something wasn’t right, so I rang the vet. Once she got the first calf out, they just kept coming,” said Noel.

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The sire is a Belgian Blue beef bull supplied by AI Services. “The calves are all doing well and the cow is also fine,” confirmed Noel.

Delivered

The calves were delivered by Breigin Lagan from Parkview Vets in Castlederg and Strabane.

She said the first calf was smaller than usual, so she wasn’t surprised to find a twin coming next. She put her hand in again to find a third calf. “I was delighted, because it was the first time I had ever seen living triplet calves. I couldn’t believe there were still two more. The calves were all lined up – they weren’t tangled at all – it was quite amazing,” said Breigin.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and quite the way to end a nightshift,” she added.

Rare

To put the events into perspective, it is thought that the chance of having four living calves is around 1 in 11 million.

According to Guiness World Records, the most living calves born at a single birth is five, with the record holder being a farm in Mexico from 2005.

However, there have been other reports of a cow with five living calves, including from a farm in Shropshire, England in 2011, a Co Limerick farm in 2013 and a cow in Iran back in 2024.