A special, and rare, event occurred at a Buln Buln cattle stud last month as six year old mum to be "Wakefield Mary Q272" was calving.

Wakefield Mary had just calved the second of what Doug Benson of Doben Park Shorthorns thought was a rare set of twins when he received a call from his daughter-in-law Jess Benson who was overseeing proceedings. "I reckon I can see another set of legs, Jess said to me. I said - no that couldn't be right - have another look!"
Jess, in fact, was correct as Wakefield Mary was preparing to give birth to the third of an incredibly rare set of triplets.
Doben Park Shorthorns has been breeding cattle since 1977 and in that time has seen twins born only twice in that time.
On speaking with the stud's vet, Grant Neilsen of West Gippsland Vet Care, Doug learned that triplets were even more rare than he thought. "Grant said that the chances of triplets is around one in 10,000 and it is even more uncommon that triplets are born naturally and that they all survive."
All three calves are bulls with two being white and the other red. Their sire is "Outback Sprys."
"The first born was 32 kilograms at birth and the other two were 30 kilograms," Doug said. "The calves were born naturally over about three hours and the third one was a breach birth."
Doug's family has been on the Buln Buln property since 1951 and specialty breeders since 1977. They currently run 115 breeding cows on close to 100 hectares.
Doug and his family are fond of their Shorthorn breed.
"We breed Shorthorns due to their temperament, fertility and ease of management," he said. "All our calves are grown out to 500 kilograms and we sell them direct to Jindi Pig in Neerim South."