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Cariboo couple’s cow delivers triplets

It was a first for Laurie and Danny Frame

A Cariboo couple’s cow surprised them by giving birth to triplets on June 7.

“Two of them were 65 pounds and the other one was about 50 pounds,” said Laurie Frame who along with her husband Danny Frame own Two 4 Ranch northeast of Williams Lake off Beaver Lake Road.

Laurie said they had been expecting the cow to deliver earlier and had no inclination she was carrying triplets.

Then on June 7, when she approached the cow in a 20-acre field where their other cows and calves were, she saw the cow finally had a calf beside her and thought “right on.”

She walked up to check on the other cows and calves, and when she looked back she noticed a second calf was coming out.

Immediately Laurie went down to the house to let the cow be alone to calf out, which usually takes about 10 minutes.

“When I walked back up she’d had the second one. When she turned around to clean off her calf, I saw two more feet coming out. I thought I couldn’t be seeing right, but sure enough she delivered a third one.”

To make sure the mom was getting enough grain and the triplets would thrive, the Frames moved them closer to the house by transporting the calves on an ATV using a dog kennel.

“I have a great big dog kennel, one of those big plastic ones with a door on it. We put a set of skis underneath it.”

They figured if they each had a calf on their quads the mom would follow them, which she did.

Danny and Laurie have been raising cattle since 2008 and while they have had twin calves before this was the first set of triplets.

“I’ve been telling ranching friends about it and they’ve asked if they’ve lived? Apparently it’s really odd. I didn’t know that was something special,” Laurie said.

Their ranch has been in existence since 1894.

A prosecutor name Alexander McInnes who started off in Alexandria, homesteaded at the ranch’s location.

His sons raised dairy cattle to supply milk through the gold rush period.

Proud to be following in the footsteps of the homesteaders, Laurie said the triplet surprise will give them something to yack about over the fence for the summer.

“Along with a multitude of other surprises that happen in the Cariboo, it’s never the same twice, especially the weather.”

While their calves are not usually given names, due to the rarity of having three Laurie decided to name them 64 Yukio 1, 64 Yuhna 2, and 64 Yanis 3, all with a last name of Yum Yum.



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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