Cow raising four calves

?This is the first time I have ever had a cow with four calves back to back,? says Roy Cowen, somewhat proudly.

?When she freshened in October, I put four calves on her, weaned them in February then put four more on her. First time I have ever had a cow to do that,? he says. ?Another one has three, and she had three before. Sometimes they can only handle two.?

The 86-year-old farmer is one of the few remaining who do things the way the used to be done. He has no plans to retire, although he doesn?t actively farm his 160 acres. He just likes the cow-calf regimen. He and his wife Donna live on the farm his father purchased in 1938 north and west of Birmingham.

?Some think it is easy,? he said, referring to his method of purchasing days-old Holstein calves and putting them on a freshened cow, which will nurse them to about 500 pounds, ?but it is a lot of work.?

Cowen buys the calves privately when he can get them, and currently has four cows with 10 calves.

Most cows give birth to and raise one calf at a time, with a few having twins. It is a rare cow that has triplets and is able to raise them. Being able to feed four at once is definitely out of the ordinary.

The calves were weighed this week and are more than 400 pounds. At a rate gain of 2.5 pounds to 3 pounds a day, the youngsters will be at the desired weight to be weaned in about 30 days.

Then Cowen says he has to find more calves.