A COW on a farm near Hexham has defied the odds by giving birth to three healthy calves.

Farmer Raymond Little was shocked when his cow gave birth to the triplets last week.

The odds of a cow having three calves are estimated to be around 100,000 to one – 66 times higher than the odds Newcastle United were given of winning the Premier League at the start of the season.

Raymond said he’d never seen a cow give birth to three live calves throughout his career.

He had been expecting twin calves, but was stunned to discover there were actually three healthy young arrivals.

Raymond said: “I’m coming up 76 and I’ve been farming all my life.

“I’ve never known it happen before.

“I’ve had cows carrying three before, but she couldn’t carry them to full term and she lost them. We were saying she could be carrying two, but we never thought she had three.

“I was at Hexham Mart on Friday talking to a lot of guys from all over the country, and none of them had ever seen it.”

The calves – two females and one male – were born at Anick Grange, which is owned by Julie Dixon, and all three are reported to be doing well.

Raymond continued: “They’re absolutely fine. They’re all indoors at the minute. They’re almost identical. You don’t hear people talk about this. It just doesn’t happen.”