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SILVER LAKE, Minn. - Heifer calves are a welcome sight to any dairy producer, but to a young producer like Keith Fasching, who is just getting started in the industry, they can be especially beneficial.
Fasching recently increased his heifer crop by three - from one cow - on July 18 when he welcomed triplet heifer calves into the world.
"I was surprised; I wouldn't have even guessed she would have had twins," Fasching said of the cow.
Fasching (24) has been dairy farming on his own since Jan. 1, 2011, when he purchased a 63-cow herd from Paul Schultz and began renting Schultz's facilities near Silver Lake, Minn. Many of the cows were bred when he bought them, and he has had around 30 come in since the first of the year. The recent triplets bring his heifer numbers up to 14.
It happened during morning chores on July 18, a day the temperatures surpassed 95 degrees with a dewpoint over 80.
"It was miserable that day," Fasching said. "I saw her (the cow) calving out in the pasture and checked to make sure she was doing ok."
That was at 8:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., he checked the cow - a 7-year-old on her fourth lactation - again. By that time Fasching could see the front feet and head coming. He let the cow be, finishing up a few chores, but when he went to check her a third time nothing had changed.
It was time to pull.
"I reached in and pulled out the first calf. She was small, so I thought there had to be another," he said.
Sure enough, Fasching pulled out a second calf - another heifer - which was backwards. He brought the cow and calves to the barn and milked the cow, but throughout that time, the cow kept pushing.
"There was another backwards calf in her," Fasching said.
The third was again a heifer, making it the first set of triplet heifers Fasching has had, and only the second set of triplets he has experienced in his life.
Although one was a little slow to start, all three heifers are healthy and frisky, Fasching said on Aug. 4, as is the mother.
The calves are sired by Indy - a Holstein bull - through an A.I. breeding. Fasching said it took a few services before she settled, but she has more than made up for that with her latest group of daughters.
The second and third heifers are nearly identical, except for a small marking on the shoulder of one. The first is and has always been the biggest, Fasching said, and has different markings than her sisters.
Fasching has no special plans for his new heifers but to raise them with the rest of his replacement animals.
"I'll keep them in the herd and eventually breed them," he said.
They'll help build his herd as he makes his start in the dairy industry, with goals of one day owning his own farm.
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