TWO OUT OF four identical calves who were born at a farm in Co Clare in 2017 are now expecting twins.
In February 2017, Rosie, Fluffie, Mia and Jenny were born to Bawny with camera crews deployed to the farm outside Ennistymon, Co Clare to get a glimpse of the heifers and their owner, Tom Claire.
Bawny, a Herford cross, gave birth to twins at the end of March. She has had 15 calves in 11 years.
“By God she’s one of the best, it’s often three of them wouldn’t produce 15 calves in their lifetime,” Clair said of Bawny.
“I figured she was carrying the twins this year,” he recalled.
Two years ago, Clair made a similar prediction but receive a surprise when not one but two extra additions arrived in what geneticists have classed a one in a billion birth with previous cases at Norfolk (2004) and Texas (2015).
This time round, Clair didn’t expect any surprises: “I didn’t but you could expect anything out of that lady.”
Anyone can have twins, a lot of them have twins but it’s the fact the quads are gone in calving and carrying twins is what’s making it special again.
Two of the quads born in 2017 are now expecting twins themselves.
“The quads are gone in calving and there are two of them carrying twins, they are due to calve in September or October, it will be all go again,” Clair said.
“They made mighty news that time,” he commented of their birth and subsequent coverage.
Clair said he really enjoyed the All-Ireland Ploughing Championships that followed their birth.
The week of the ploughing was the highlight of it all.
All the people that went through to the stand to see them for the three days, you couldn’t put a figure on it,” he said.
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