RARE triplet calves have been born on a Wiltshire farm.

They are the first triplets born at Hill End Farm, Brinkworth, since 1983.

The Friesian cows are expected to join the farm’s 95-strong herd, which produces milk for the award winning Brinkworth Dairy.

Cheesemaker Ceri Cryer, who was yet to start school when the last triplets were born on the farm, said the new arrivals were “fantastic”.

“I was coming back from my holiday in Portugal when they were born,” said Ceri, 38. “It was just dad there delivering the calves.

“He delivered the first calf – felt its head and legs. As he delivered it he noticed it was very small, but he thought it was maybe twins.

“He felt another two feet and a head. Again, it was another small calf.

“He was doing a final check when he felt two legs and a head – but the head was round backwards.”

The birth threatened to be complicated, so 67-year-old farmer Joe Collingborn called his emergency vet out from Malmesbury.

“Dad was on his way to the World Dairy Summit in Ireland and he had to catch a plane,” said Ceri.

With the vet’s help all three calves were born successfully – and, several weeks on, both them and mum Nell are doing well.

Ceri said: “It’s very rare to have triplets. It’s fantastic.”

The triplets are currently in a barn, getting a milk feed twice a day. With winter fast approaching, they’ll remain on warm straw until spring, when they’ll get their first taste of fresh grass.

Ceri’s parents, who still run the farm, plan on keeping all three cows in the herd.

The two female calves are yet to be named. But, following farm tradition, will take names starting with their mother’s initial, “N”.

The young bullock would be kept for breeding, Ceri said. The cheesemaker’s mum has named him “Novet”.

It is expected that the female heifers will begin producing their own calves in over three years’ time. Ceri said: “We don’t grow our cows very quickly. We grow them slowly, so they can have a good long life.”

The cows that produce the milk for Brinkworth Dairy’s famous cheeses, cream and ice cream, spend around 240 days a year outdoors. “It’s double the requirement for free range,” said Ceri.

Ceri’s family have been raising cows at Hill End Farm since 1910.

For more about Brinkworth Dairy, visit: www.brinkworthdairy.co.uk.