A YOUNG farmer says it was a shock to find that one of his cows had given birth to triplets.

Richard Andrew, 13, says it had never happened before at the family’s beef and sheep farm near Meifod.

He said: “It was exciting, a shock but a lot of work!

“We weren’t expecting it. Basically, we just brought her into the cow shed when she had one calf and then I went to do something and came back and she calved the second, then while I was feeding the cows with some silage she was calving a third.”

The triplets - two bull calves and a heifer - were born to a Charolais cross bull named Moelfre and a Simmental on Wednesday, January 9.

The Caereinion High School student, who hopes to become an auctioneer, helps his dad on the farm every morning before going to school.

He says it’s likely that one of the calves will be reared by another cow.

There must be something in the grass in Meifod because this isn’t the first time that triplets have been born. Six years ago, a cow belonging to Richard’s uncle, who lives at the farm next door, gave birth to three calves.

The National Farmers’ Union of Wales estimates the chance of triplet calves being born is one in 100,000.