A cow has baffled experts by giving birth to twin calves – which are DIFFERENT COLOURS.
Dairy farmer Paul Richards, 58, was gobsmacked when he delivered the two baby females, one red-and-white and the black-and-white.
The two calves were sired by a Holstein heifer called Cherry Blossom who has patches of black but no red.
She’s previously given birth to both black and brown cows – but never twins of a different colour.
Mr Richards has been rearing calves for the past 44 years at Tresemple Farm, near Truro, Cornwall, but says he’s never seen anything like it before.
Cherry Blossom and her twins are getting on well after they were born Wednesday with the help of local vet Sam Smalley.
Mr Richards added: “I put my hand in and found two heads and three legs.
“The first calf wanted to come out but the second was impatient and coming over the top.”
His wife Coral, 52, said: “We’re thrilled to bits. I’ve never seen this before. As we’re a dairy herd we want females so it’s great news.”
Bruce Woodacre, an international cow expert, said it was extremely rare to have twin calves of differing colours.
He said: “The mother could have a recessive gene for red and white or she could have been artificially inseminated twice to improve the chances of conception.
“The resulting calves could therefore have been be sired by two different fathers and be two different colours – and this does happen.
“If it’s a natural conception that is extremely uncommon and I’ve never seen one before.”
this is common. its not rare. its about 1:5000, which actually is rather frequent given how many cattle are born each year. twin calves can have different fathers. its not something that has “baffled experts”