Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moo! A mother cow gives birth to 4 calves - defying odds of 1 in 11 million
<p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>“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.</p><p>“This was a shock. This blew our minds.”</p><p>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.</p><p>The couple watched the birth of the fourth calf after going to check on her when they saw buzzards circling above a field.</p><p>Because the mother cow is unable to nurse all four calves, the couple are relying on neighbours to help.</p><p>Moo has stayed with her mother, while Eeny, Meeny and Miny are with two different caretakers.</p><p>Meeny is the smallest of the calves, weighing in at about 11.3kg. A typical healthy birth weight for a calf is 34kg.</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/03/elephant-gets-prosthetic-leg/" target="_blank">Watch the moment when this elephant gets a prosthetic leg</a> </strong></em></span></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/02/dogs-motivating-kids-to-read/" target="_blank">Meet the therapy dogs helping children learn to read</a></strong></em></span></p><p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/03/crocodile-steals-fish/" target="_blank">Watch this mammoth crocodile steal a fish right off a fisherman’s line</a></strong></em></span></p>
