Living up to his name, Morrows Super Hero, is in fact ranked among the best Holstein Friesians on the RAS List (Ranking of Active Sires List)* for fertility – he is also ranked among the best for longevity.

The triplets were born on Sunday (August 1) at Calum and Susan Roach’s Opunake (Taranaki) farm, and they and their nine-year-old cross breed dam are doing well.

The Roachs' say they do not keep twins or triplets for replacements, but are happy to give away the potential replacement heifers, free to a good home.

Susan Roach says both she and Calum grew up farming and have been farming themselves since their first 50:50 Sharemilking job in 1991.

“I know triplet calves are really rare, and this is the first time we have ever had healthy triplets born on farm.”

Triplets in the bovine world are rare, the chances of a cow having triplets in New Zealand is about one in 500,000 births,

but the chances of them being born alive is closer to one in two million, according to Massey University.

*The Ranking of Active Sires (RAS) is a list of ranking of sires, nominated by New Zealand AB (artificial breeding) companies, ranked by Breeding Worth (BW) - which is the national breeding objective. An active sire is one which is likely to have at least 500 doses of semen available in the following mating season.