(Porter County, IN) - It was like winning the lottery, of sorts, for an Indiana family with two cows that gave birth to five calves in just one week.

 

Luke Goetz said he’s had previous cows deliver twins, but he’s never heard of anyone with a herd bearing triplets.  Even a veterenarian that checked on the cow recently, didn't think she was carrying more than just one calf.

 

“It was a complete surprise,” he said.

 

One out of every 105,000 beef cows gives birth to triplets and, in many cases, not all three of the calves survive. All of the triplets at the Goetz farm near Valparaiso, along with the twins, seem as healthy.

 

“They got boundless energy,” said his 20 year old daughter, Amaleah, who seemed obviously thrilled.  “I’m pretty happy that God had this planned,” she said.

 

Mr. Goetz and his wife, Michelle, have eight children, and raise more than 30 beef cows on their farm. They use the mostly to keep their freezer well stocked with meat. The rest is taken by extended family members and friends. Mr. Goetz said he also uses the cows for breeding, to provide feeder calves, and show animals in the Porter County Fair by his children in 4H.

 

On January 9, the cow - a full blooded Simmental - had just delivered a calf with no need for assistance. Goetz was informed by his wife about the birth, and showed up to check on the mother and her newborn, then left. He returned about four hours later, and was shocked to see “two other ones sitting in there.” Goetz texted his daughter and notified her about his discovery.

 

“We were just so excited. I haven’t been that excited in a long time.  It was crazy,” she said.

 

She said the mother has accepted each of the calves and has plenty of milk, but not quite enough to keep all three of them in good supply. So, she began feeding them one gallon bottles of formula to make up the difference.

 

“I’m still bottle feeding them.  They’ll take a bottle morning and night.  They’re doing great,” she said. Feeling kind of like their mother, too, is another reason Goetz is overjoyed by their presence.

 

“The best part is going in there and they come running and bounding up to me and they get right in the position to get a bottle.  I love that,” she said.

 

She named the bulls, Shawn and Gus, and the heifer, Juliet, after the main characters in “Psych,” one of the favorite TV shows of her little sisters.

 

Goetz said she’s not having to supplement the needs of the other twins, whose mother is allowing both of them to feed just fine. She's been able to keep up with twice the average newborn demand for nutrition.

 

“They’re in good health, too.  I’m watching them right now.  They’re just running across the pen,” she said.

 

All five of the newborns have one father, “Harvey,” who was also born on the farm. Harvey was also used by Goetz in breeding for other, much larger calves who were just part of single births.

 

“It’s pretty cool that it wasn’t a bull that we bought. It was a bull that we had that’s giving us so many awesome babies,” she said.