Zuppan Quadruplets

Zuppan Dairy in Orland, California, had a cow that gave birth to live heifer quadruplets.

Cow 5026 (four years old) had quadruplets on December 6, 2011. All four heifer calves were born alive, healthy and at term without assistance.

This is the cow's third time calving- the first two times she had single calves. The cow did not have any hormones before or after getting pregnant, and was artificially inseminated with non-sexed semen (1HO2571- Cole) from a natural heat. She likely released three oocytes from her ovaries which were fertilized, one of which then split, producing two calves out of the four which are identical genetically.

Hair samples were taken from the cow and all four calves and sent to the Veterinary Genetics Lab at UC Davis and were confirmed to be all related.

• Odds of quadruplets in cattle: 1:700,000 (Veterinary Obstetrics and Genital Diseases, Roberts 1971 p. 84)
• Odds of quadruplets all born alive: 1:11.2 million
• Odds of quadruplets all alive, all one sex: 1:179.2 million

Photo and information submitted by Michael Karle, D.V.M., Mid-Valley Veterinary Hospital in Orland, California.