Hahn Family Surprised By Triplets
SCOPUS, MO.
Larry and Lance Hahn were anticipating with normal excitement the arrival of their first 2020 spring calf. Larry, the 78 year old farmer, saw the 3 year old #3 cow had just delivered her calf along the road. He decided to watch and see if it got up and nursed ok, instead he saw another calf come out. The mother still did not get up to lick off the newborn calves. He decided to walk over and get the cow up so she would proceed to lick the newborns, as it was a rainy chilly day. The cow had other things on her mind though. She still had one more calf to deliver! Finally she pushed out the third calf and then got up to start licking them off.
She had delivered two 50 pound heifers and one 75 pound bull. “We were all in shock” said Lance, “we have had over 100 sets of twins born on the farm through the years, 8 sets in 2018 alone, but never triplets.” Due to the weather and complexity of multiple calves it was necessary to get them to the barn and some colostrum in them ASAP so Lance’s wife started thawing out frozen colostrum that had been saved from the previous year. Only the 75 pound bull could stand and nurse at first. The two small heifers weren't much interested in sucking a bottle so they drenched them with a feeding tube. After much rubbing and loving the three calves seemed content with their bellies full. The next day the two heifers couldn't figure out how to nurse on their own. So they put the momma in the chute and helped them learn to nurse. By the third day they had it figured out and could stand and nurse on their very own. The cow lets one calf suck at a time or two or 3 at a time! They have been supplementing them with a bottle between the three calves morning and evening trying to help momma out.
The cow is a Brangus cow and the sire is a Registered Angus they bought from a friend Steve Birk of Jackson, Missouri at the Farmington Performance Tested Bull sale. It’s like a 1 in a 100,000 chance of having triplets let alone all 3 living and accepted by the cow. It was also quite a thrill for Larry to see all 3 calves born. “Dad couldn’t quit grinning the whole time”, said Lance “it doesn’t matter if your 78, 47 or a kid anybody that has cattle knows the thrill of a new baby calf.” The Hahn’s are a Missouri Century Farm located near Scopus, Missouri in Bollinger County, which means the farm has been operated by the same family for at least 100 consecutive years. Lance said, “our ancestors settled this property in the 1850's and I am the sixth generation to be on this farm”. Lance hopes that his 2 sons Landon, who plays baseball for Southeast Missouri State and is majoring in AG Business and Layton, a senior at Jackson, will keep it going in the future. Lance said, “it’s really neat knowing I'm out here walking around and working on the same ground with my dad as our ancestors did, it's been a great place to grow up and raise a family”. ∆
