IDAHO FALLS — Reed’s Dairy beat the odds with the birth of triplet female Holstein calves on Feb. 23.

“It was quite a deal to have them all as healthy as they were. They were big calves,” Alan Reed, president of Reed’s Dairy, said.

The calves were born about 6 a.m. and were only a little smaller than what a single calf would be. They were all healthy, well and survived, he said.

The triplets were born to a cow about five years old, and it was her third birth. She was big, and Reed and his herdsman wondered if she might be carrying twins. But they were completely surprised by triplets.

The dairy occasionally gets twins and has had one other set of triplets, but they didn’t survive.

“It was just amazing we had triplets and all survived. It was just a fun thing, so unusual, just fun to have it on your dairy. We were just thrilled about it,” he said.

The calves were born without assistance, and no pulling was needed.

“It was really something that that mom just had those calves,” he said.

Statistics on triplet births in dairy cattle and the chance of all-heifer triplets are hard to come by.

A 2016 article in the Lansing Journal referenced a 2015 Polish study that put the occurrence of triplet births in dairy cattle at 1 in 100,000, with the odds of having all heifers at 1 in 8 triplet births. A 2016 Associated Press article pegged the occurrence of triplet heifers at 1 in every 700,000 births.

Neither Reed nor his herdsman know of anyone having surviving triplet calves, he said.

Reed has two of the calves in the petting area at his Idaho Falls dairy and ice cream store. The petting area houses other animals as well and only has room for two calves. The two calves will probably stay there another month, he said.

The triplet calves will join Reed’s herd of about 185 Holsteins to produce milk for Reed’s Dairy products, which include bottled milk, cheese, ice cream and other products.

The third-generation dairy operates a home delivery service in Idaho Falls and the Treasure Valley. It also has two ice cream shops in the Idaho Falls area and two in the Boise area.

For more information, visit: www.reedsdairy.com