By 
KILLEN farmer Noel Moore said he was left ‘totally stunned’ when one of his dairy cows gave birth to five living calves at the weekend.
The miraculous event occured on Saturday morning and Mr Moore said it was one of the most incredible things he had witnessed during his 50-plus years as a dairy farmer.
It says something when it’s a struggle to find odds for a cow giving birth to five healthy calves!
Some estimates claim it’s approximately 20 million to one.
It’s certainly extremely rare and Mr Moore, whose farm is located on the Lisleen Road about a mile from the village of Killen, explains how events unfolded on Saturday morning.
“About three weeks ago I put the cow into an isolation pen to give her some extra feeding,” he said.
“She was very heavy and losing flesh fast – she was only a second calving cow – and I thought she might have been carrying twins.
“I checked her on Saturday morning about five o’clock before milking and she was looking a little uneasy. I looked at her again around 7am and things had moved on.
“I didn’t touch her, I immediately called the vet who was here within 20 minutes. The vet (Breigin Lagan, Parkview) pulled the first calf out, a second, then a third and then a fourth.
“When she had the four calves out and straightened up, she decided to put her hand in again just to double check there wasn’t a fifth.
“She put her arm in as far as it would go and was able to touch another one with her fingertips. The vet gave the cow five minutes to force the calf forward and duly delivered it.
“I honestly didn’t know what to think at that stage, I was totally stunned. And so was the vet – she said it had made her day.”
A cow giving birth to five healthy calves is Guinness World Record territory.
The first official recording of such an event was in Mexico in 2005.
In 2019, a cow on a farm in Kerry gave birth to quintuplets and it was repeated again on a rural Iranian farm in 2024.
Interestingly, multiple births often occur when artificial insemination is involved and that indeed was the case on the Moore farm.
The Friesian cow in question – which, despite the best efforts of the farmer and vet, has since unfortunately died – was AI’d with a Belgian Blue bull called ‘Jubilant’ which is one of numerous beef sires listed in the catalogue of AI Services.
Five days on the newborns – two males and three females – all appear to be thriving well.
“All the calves are good strong calves and good feeders. They would easily pass for twins,” continued Noel.
“I have been milking cows for at least 50 years and in that time have seen a lot of different things when it comes to calving… but I never seen anything like this!”
