A cattle family in New Zealand with triplet calving ability

This paper reports on calving data from a cow family in New Zealand which is elite for triplet calving ability. The foundation cow (named ‘Treble’) was born in 1993 and her calvings included three sets of triplets. A triplet son (named ‘Trio’), born in 1996, was used for matings in two New Zealand herds, producing 44 daughters which were retained for breeding, and these had a total of 109 calvings by 2008. Thirteen of the daughters produced a total of 15 twin and 6 triplet sets, 19% multiples (including twins and triplets). Five cows calved the 6 triplet sets; triplet calvings were 29% of all multiple calvings. This herd should provide a resource for DNA studies to identify a genetic mechanism whereby rare triplet calvings are produced.