VALPARAISO, Ind. – It was like winning the lottery, of sorts, for an Indiana family with two cows that gave birth to five calves in just one week.

Luke Goetz said he’s had previous cows deliver twins, but he’s never heard of anyone with a herd bearing triplets.

Goetz said not even a veterinarian during his most recent checkup of the triplet-carrying, large-structured cow, sensed there was more than just one in her uterus.

“It was a complete surprise,” he said.

One out of every 105,000 beef cows gives birth to triplets and, in many cases, not all of the calves survive.

All the triplets at the Goetz farm near Valparaiso, along with the set of twins are healthy. 

“They got boundless energy,” said his 20-year-old daughter, Amaleah. “I’m pretty happy that God had this planned,” she said.

Luke and his wife, Michelle, who have eight children, raise more than 30 beef cows on their farm to keep their freezer well stocked with meat. The rest of the beef is taken by extended family members and friends.

Luke Goetz said he also uses the cows for breeding to provide feeder calves and for showing at the Porter County Fair by his children in 4-H.

On Jan. 9, the cow, a full-blooded Simmental, had just delivered a calf with no need for assistance. After checking on the cow and calf Goetz left. After returning about four hours later, he was shocked to see “two other ones sitting in there.”

Goetz texted his daughter and notified her about his discovery.

“We were just so excited. I haven’t been that excited in a long time. It was crazy,” she said.

She said the mother has accepted each of the calves and has plenty of milk, but not quite enough to keep all three of them in good supply, so, she began feeding them one-gallon bottles of formula to make up the difference.

“I’m still bottle feeding them. They’ll take a bottle morning and night. They’re doing great,” she said.

Feeling kind of like their mother, too, is another reason Amaleah is overjoyed by their presence.

“The best part is going in there and they come running and bounding up to me and they get right in the position to get a bottle. I love that,” she said.

She named the bulls, Shawn and Gus, and the heifer, Juliet, after the main characters in “Psych,” one of the favorite TV shows of her little sisters.

Amaleah said she’s not having to supplement the needs of the twins, whose mother, allowing both of them to latch on to her teats, has been able to keep up with twice the average newborn demand for nutrition.

“They’re in good health, too. I’m watching them right now. They’re just running across the pen,” she said.

All five of the newborns have one father, Harvey, who was born on the farm. The bull was also used in breeding that produced calves much larger for their ages in single births.

“It’s pretty cool that it wasn’t a bull that we bought. It was a bull that we had that’s giving us so many awesome babies,” she said.

Luke Goetz, who grew up helping tend to his father’s slightly smaller cattle herd, said he started his own in 2017 to give his children the same opportunity he had to take part in 4H.

In addition, Goetz said he couldn’t ignore the cattleman that was still in his blood and wanted to help feed his family.

He also owns Goetz Irrigation, which builds and services large irrigators and supplies farmers with related parts.

Amaleah, who helps raise the cattle, is manager of the parts warehouse. Her older brother, Carson, is involved in raising the corn and soybeans used to feed the cattle. The family also has over 30 chickens.

Amaleah said her life was already busy prior to the sudden addition of the five calves but doesn’t mind whatsoever. “It’s a lot, but I love it,” she said.