After having twins, Koe Joke will have triplets this year: ‘Really very special’

Surprising, special and very cute. Cow Joke 6 has given birth to triplets of bulls Jip, Job and Jaap at the Spruit Dairy Farm of Martin and Annelies Spruit in Zoetermeer.

Joke 6 is a red and white Holstein cow that comes from a family where several multiple births were born. “Last year she gave birth to twins, this year to triplets. Both the twins and the triplets are all bulls. Really very special!”

All three alive in the world

The birth started around 8 a.m. on Monday morning, September 18. “Cows can give birth without assistance, but I am usually nearby to assist if necessary,” Martin explains. “I then feel whether the calves are in the right place and with Joke I felt that there was another calf. After the first two births, I was surprised when I noticed another calf. All three were born alive, which is very special. It regularly happens that a calf dies. I have witnessed many cow deliveries, but in this one I sat down and enjoyed this wonderful moment.”

Jip, Job and Jaap

Bulls Jip, Job and Jaap were fed with colostrum from a bottle for the first three days. “The mother is doing wonderfully well. She stands in a warm place to recover and to eat well. We milk her and give the mother’s milk to the calves. Giving birth to triplets requires a lot of energy: she simply carried 100 kilos of calves with her. “

Joke 7, 8, 9 and 10

Dairy farmer Martin once bought Joke 6 from a cattle farmer. “Every daughter born from her gets the same name with an increasing number,” Martin explains. “In her case she only got bulls, but if it had been a female bovine, we would have called her Joke 7.”

Martin and Annelies have approximately 80 cows that have calves on their farm in the Meerpolder. “Ultimately, of all the calves, about fifteen female cattle remain on the farm. The other cows go to other places.” And what happens to Jip, Job and Jaap? “We raise them and after eight months they leave our farm, because only female cattle can produce milk. Unfortunately, the bulls go to slaughter. I find that quite an unpleasant science, but that is how it works on a dairy farm.”