A NORTHLEW cow has beaten odds of 105,000 to one by giving birth to triplets.

Cocoa and her brothers Chocolate and Coffee were born at the Monks family farm between Okehampton and Northlew.

The triplets are a cross between a Limousin bull from Exeter and the family's 12-year-old Friesian cow.

David and Susan Monks run the farm with their sons Stephen, 26, and Adam, 23.

Susan said the farm had belonged to David's parents, Joan and Reg, since 1979 and none of the family had known triplet calves which had all survived.

Susan said: "Joan said the last time she had seen something like it was in the newspapers 30 years.

"They are doing really well and we're quiet fond of the cows.

"The vet told us it was incredible to have three survive, when you think about it there were 12 legs in there.

"We saw the first come through and then realised they were twins.

"The cow started lying down and about an hour later we saw another pair of feet sticking out and the calf was breech.

"If it had happened at night I don't think they would have survived."

Roger Cunningham, from North Park Vets in Hatherleigh, Okehampton and North Tawton, is the Monks' family vet.

He said: "I don't know the odds, but I've been working as a vet for 25 years and I've only once delivered triplets and unfortunately they all died. To get them all surviving is really rare.

"I've calved twins before and that was lovely and easy because they were so small.

"They are all up and running and the two bull calves are a reasonable size, but the heifer is a bit small. They look lovely and healthy.

"Mixed twins usually results in the female of the pair being infertile because of the hormones in the womb, but I don't know if that's the case here.

"I don't know if the boys are identical – we would have to do a DNA test to know that.

"The mother is 12 and that's the equivalent of a granny. She probably first had calves when she was aged two or three so has probably had around eight over time."

The Monks family run a dairy farm and say because the calves are beef crosses they will be selling the triplets on.

Cows need passports to be sold on and they needed to state they were triplets on the passport.

Because it's so rare there has been a hold up in the passport certification.

The vet said: "The passport people only sent two passports because they thought there was a mistake."