Three times the surprise

MENAHGA, Minn. — Having triplets on a dairy farm is not common. Having two sets of them in three months is rare. In spite of the rarity, that is what happened at the Spadgenske family farm this year.

When Kate Spadgenske heard that a cow had had a calf via their family group chat, she checked on the cow and calf. Everything appeared normal and healthy, so she went back to her chores. However, later that day when she came back to check on the cow and take the calf to the calf barn, she saw, not one, not two, but three calves in their close-up pen.

“There was another cow in the pen, so at first, I thought it was two sets of twins,” Spadgenske. “Upon further inspection, we figured out that the one cow had triplets.”

They were able to determine that the cow had had triplets because the other cow in the pen was bred with Angus semen and therefore, would have a beef calf. This meant all three calves belonged to the one cow. Although the Spadgenske farm is primarily Holstein, the dam of the triplets is a crossbred with Milking Shorthorn and has a red roan color. Spadgenske said another reason they determined they were triplets is that each of the three calves only weighed about 50 pounds on the day they were born.

“We had no clue she was going to have triplets,” Spadgenske said. “We do not ultrasound or anything, so we weren’t expecting anything out of the ordinary.”

Spadgenske works part-time on her family’s farm owned by her dad, Mark, and his brother, Mike, where they milk 300 cows in a double-13 parallel parlor near Menahga.

In January the Spadgenskes had had another set of triplets born on their farm. But because one was stillborn, the three born March 22 were the first set of live triplets for the Spadgenske farm.

“Multiple births tend to be harder on the mom,” Spadgenske said. “So we were a little concerned about them all. But everyone was up and walking around in no time.”

As exciting as it was to have a set of triplets — two bull calves and a heifer — all will be shipped with their weekly load of bull calves, since the heifer will likely be a freemartin, Spadgenske said.

“We knew we needed to get some pictures before they leave,” Spadgenske said.

Spadgenske is used to taking pictures and videos at her family’s farm and sharing them on social media as she is in charge of their Facebook page and is a content creator for Dairy Farmers of America.

“I think it is so great that we get to have this little window to show other people what life on the farm is like,” Spadgenske said.

Aside from working on her family’s farm and creating videos for social media, Spadgenske also works for her local cooperative, Lakes Community Cooperative as a sales representative and calf specialist.

The on-farm career position came to Spadgenske as she graduated from college and their custom heifer grower wanted to be done with the business. Spadgenske, who had gone to Ridgewater College for agribusiness, naturally stepped into the role.

“I love being able to work (with) the calves and my family every day,” Spadgenske said.

Spadgenske’s brother, Adam, works full-time on the farm, alongside his dad and uncle. Her brother, Ryan, takes care of feeding the cows, Mike and Mark take care of the crops and cows, and Spadgenske takes care of the calves.

Even though the set of triplets will not be staying at the Spadgenske farm, they will stay in their memory, Spadgenske said.

“Everybody was healthy, so it was a cool thing,” Spadgenske said. “It was really exciting to know we had a set of triplets because that is not very common.”