Texas Longhorn Beats One-In-A-Million Odds!
Triplet Heifer Calves Born in Kansas

Texas Longhorn Trails, June 1997

Texas Longhorn breeders often say that finding new calves is a lot like an Easter Egg hunt. On April 13, the Meats family from Rock Creek Ranch at LeRoy, Kansas found their basket brimming over. Brian Meats and his 21-month-old son, Tyler, were out checking their Texas Longhorn herd that morning, and looking especially for Sandhill Trece LB 29, a Texas Ranger granddaughter, who was due to calve any day. When they Anally found her, they learned that not only had she calved, she had delivered triplets. A closer look revealed they were ALL HEIFERS! As Brian and Tyler approached, the cow moved slightly away with one calf following her closely. Realizing that the cow might have difficulty with all three calves, Mr. Meats made a decision right then. The two calves left behind were moved up by the house to be bottle- fed. One of the calves weighed 52 lbs. and the other 48 lbs. The calf with the mother was not weighed, but was probably the largest. "The odds of triplets in cattle are extremely rare," says Dr. Bob Kropp, OSU Animal Scientist and Chairman of the TLBAA Breed Advisory Committee. "And the odds of same-sex triplets would be much greater, at least one in several thousands. In other words, about the same as your chances of winning the lottery." He stated the frequency of twins in cattle ranges from .4% in some breeds to as much as .8% in Angus and 2-3% in Holstein cattle. He cited one ranch that had selected for twins for 20 years and yet only achieved a 1.7% incidence. The heifer calves, Sandy, Candy and Brandy, have brought nationwide attention to the Meats family and the Texas Longhorn breed. On April 23, WIBW TV from Topeka, Kansas flew a crew in via helicopter to tape an interview, and the segment made national news that evening. Since that time, articles have appeared in several large agricultural publications. The triplets, sired by a registered Angus bull, are the first step (F-1) in the Meats' ALL Cattle Program (3/8 Angus, 3/8 Limousin, 1/4 Longhorn). Mr. Meats has 75% of his registered Texas Longhorn cows bred to produce the F-1s and recently purchased some bred F- 1 heifers from John Mears of Chanute, Kansas. In both his purebred and F-1 herds, Mr. Meats utilizes Texas Longhorn females with top bloodlines. He wants the cows in both programs "to be good mamas with lots of body and milk." Evidently, Mr. Meats must be selecting for fertility, too. Sandhill Trece has delivered four calves in 10 months. And speaking of bottle babies, Mr. Meats and his wife, Jennifer, are expecting their second child in July, but they both say, it definitely WON'T BE TRIPLETS!