A Mayo Suckler farmer suspects that one of his cows gave birth to twins almost two weeks apart.

Michael Lynch, who farms near Swinford, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the first calf was born on 12 November and the second was born just shy of two weeks later on 25 November.

“The cow was bulling in October 2019 so I decided to use a Limousin straw. Then in February 2020 she came bulling again so I assumed she lost the first calf. This time I decided to go for a Simmental straw hoping for a heifer calf.

“Just over her time the cow gave birth to a very small Simmental heifer calf. She bagged up but there was no sign of milk. Just shy of two weeks later I was back out in the shed and I noticed the cow was in labour again.”

The farmer did not observe any sign of heat in the period between the October 2019 and February 2020 inseminations. It is likely that both calves were conceived following the Simmental insemination in February.

Surprise

Lynch described his disbelief when the cow gave birth to another calf, a Limousin heifer this time.

“The mother came into milk for the second calf. It was such a shock and I had never seen anything like it before on the farm. I decided to name the two heifers Surprise.

“We are going to get a DNA test done to establish if the calves came from the two bulls or just one.”

Unexpected call

Bova AI technician Sean Hyland served the cow in question on both occasions.

“I got a call from Michael a week ago and he said he had something to tell me. I didn’t know what to expect I thought he was going to give out that a calf had died or something along those lines.

“I couldn’t believe what had happened. I’ve heard of similar stories in the past but this was the first time that both calves survived.”