Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moo! A mother cow gives birth to 4 calves - defying odds of 1 in 11 million
Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moo – these are the cute names that were bestowed to the offspring of a cow in the United States who has defied odds of one in 11 million by giving birth to four calves.
Local veterinarian Mike Baird called the multiple births “extremely rare”, saying the odds of so many live births from one cow are one in 11.2 million.
“We knew she was pregnant, but we didn’t know she was going to do this,” said Jimmy Barling, whose wife owns the couple’s 20 or so cattle.
“This was a shock. This blew our minds.”
Barling’s wife, Dora Rumsey-Barling, owns the animals near the Arkansas and Oklahoma border in the southern US. Her granddaughter named the four black calves.
The couple watched the birth of the fourth calf after going to check on her when they saw buzzards circling above a field.
Because the mother cow is unable to nurse all four calves, the couple are relying on neighbours to help.
Moo has stayed with her mother, while Eeny, Meeny and Miny are with two different caretakers.
Meeny is the smallest of the calves, weighing in at about 11.3kg. A typical healthy birth weight for a calf is 34kg.
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