Moms can relate to this – giving birth is a world of excruciating pain! But can you imagine the pain animals feel when they give birth? No anesthetic drugs and gases, the pain is beyond measure. However, these amazing creatures endure it all for their little ones, and that alone is already amazing about animals.
This story will stun you in more ways than one. A farm in Minnesota just had a stunning and rare birth with one of their barn animals.
A momma cow gave birth not just to one, two, or three calves – she gave birth to four!
Welcome to the Beldo Family’s farm.
Chuck and Deb Beldo own a beautiful acreage of farmland out near Sebeka, Minnesota. The Beldo’s farm was Chuck’s great grandparents’ original homestead. They have about 120 head of cattle on their land and this season 50 momma cows were fixing to give birth.
That’s one huge momma cow – “holy cow”!
The Beldos saw one particular momma cow was bigger than usual and thought she might have twins, but they never imagined four calves. They went about calving season keeping an eye on that one, knowing her birth will need some extra care.
The Beldo’s instantly turned into some bovine midwives.
When the momma cow went into labor, the Beldo’s quickly jumped into action as midwives. Assuming that she would have two calves it was a shock to Chuck when Deb held up three fingers. But he felt even greater astonishment when minutes later Deb held up four fingers.
What are the odds for a momma cow to give birth to four babies?
According to the “Veterinary Obstetrics and Genital Diseases,” the odds are 1 in 700,000 for a cow having quadruplet calves. And the odds are even greater if all four are born alive. That would be 1 in 11.2 million.
With odds like these, it is said that the Beldo’s have hit the bovine lottery.
Giving birth to four calves is one rollercoaster ride but keeping them alive is another story.
The Beldo’s began bottle feeding the calves every four hours, around the clock. They resorted to bottle feeding because the calves were so little, it made feeding on their momma extra difficult.
Beldo said that a typical calf weighs anywhere from 50 to 70 pounds, but these four weighed around 20 pounds each.
Chuck Beldo expressed his concerns about the calf’s survival.
“I think we are going to make it now. A week ago, I wouldn’t have bet a dime on it.”
Thankfully, the quadruplets are now doing great, growing, and healthy.
When they were born and Beldo grabbed ahold of them, he says there was not much calf there. But he’s happy to report that the cows are filling out. They were able to feed the newborns after-birth maternal milk called colostrum. The neighboring dairy farm was able to supply the colostrum for the four calves.
Deb Beldo said, “That was a big part of their survival.”
The Beldo’s recently installed a bottle holder. As you can imagine holding a bottle for four rambunctious, growing calves might be quite the workout.
The quadruplets have been a new source of fun for the Beldo’s children and grandchildren. This is the sort of news that blows up on Facebook, and it did.
To no surprise, the story went viral.
The news of this “against the odds” arrival has spread around the world.
“It’s just gone crazy,” Deb Beldo said with a laugh. “It’s a novelty, but I hope somebody else can have the next experience because once is enough.”
There’s nothing more that you could ask for from a beautiful story like this. It’s a story about a strong momma cow weathering a huge storm that’s larger than her own life – her beloved calves.
Play the video below to see how this brave and strong mama cow defied all the odds for her little ones.
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