One of our Holstein cows, aptly named Legend, gave birth to triplet heifers on May 17. (Photo courtesy Ellen Kaminsky)
Hansen’s Dairy farm made history on Friday, May 17, 2019. You might even call the event “Legendairy.”
A cow on our farm gave birth to TRIPLETS! They are all alive, and they are all heifers. Experts say the odds of a cow having surviving triplets are about 1 in 400,000 births. Add in the fact that they are all girls — which is what we dairy farmers want, since only females give milk — and the odds go up exponentially.
- The triplet heifers at Hansen’s Dairy farm are all thriving.
A cow’s gestational period is 40 weeks, just like humans. In the last 20 years, we have only had two other cows pregnant with triplets, and neither set was carried for longer than five months before miscarriage.
The cow who gave birth to these lucky girls is named Legend. And now, she certainly lives up to her name.

Herd manager Blake Hansen knew that Legend was going to have twins. She happened to deliver right at the time when a tour group was visiting the farm, so two of the tourists got a true “hands-on” experience and helped deliver the first two calves!
Blake was surprised when Legend delivered these two big, beautiful heifer calves, but still looked pretty round. That’s when he realized there was a third one on the way.


The calves weighed in at 85, 85 and 80 pounds. That’s 250 pounds of baby that Legend carried for 39 weeks — just one week shy of full term! They all came out facing the proper direction, which is even more amazing. And Legend is doing well, successfully passing all the afterbirth naturally.

The sire of these triplets, or father, is also unique. His name is Glory-Road M Apple Crisp-ET, and he is the first bull that Blake Hansen has bred that was sent to stud, or a semen company. Having a bull that is desired by semen companies so that other dairy farmers may purchase his semen is a rare accomplishment, especially from a small farm like ours.
Legend herself is the daughter of a twin, who was named Lois. Legend is 5 years old, turning 6 in July, so she has given birth to four calves in her lifetime. She’s already produced over 100,000 pounds of milk in four lactations. For those in the dairy industry, she classified at 5-00 EX-90 VEEVE.

Now, these babies need names. We always use the same initial as the mother to name the calves, and we try to give each calf a name that has never been used on our farm before. This is a challenge, because we have dozens of L cows already!

Other “L” sets of twins we’ve named include:
- Longitude and Latitude
- Luke and Leia
- Lois and Lane
- LaLa and Loopsy
- Lego and Land
So, we need your help. Give us your best triplet names — remember, all beginning with L! Having a theme to the three names is even better!

Lavender, Lilac, & Lily
Lucy Lacy Lexy
Lucy, Layna, Leona
Live, Laugh & Love
So exciting! We had Holseins also and I’ve helped pull many, many calves. It was a thrill to get twin heifers for us. We also named them using the mothers “first” letter, so my three names are Lily, Lulu, and Lottie. (L is a hard letter)
Ohhhhhhhh, how sweet, 3 little babies!!
LUMIERE (disney triple candlestick character), LIBBY (a twin in The Good Dinosaur movie), and LUCKY (from 101 Dalmatians, one of many in a litter!)
lavender, lily, and lilac
Lulu, Lola, and Lila
Lily, Lilac, and Lavender
Lacy lavender lola
Lila
Lulu
Laughter
Those are good name for the babies
Legacy, Lovey, and Lively
Lilac, Lavender, and Lily or Lotus- May flowers after April showers!
Lilac, Lily, Lavender
Lilacs are lavender and lily are in bloom. I think these three names are great
Luna , Lunette, Lucero . Would be pretty .
Leigh, Lila, Lola
Lola, Lucy & Lizzie
Lily, Lolly and Lulu!
Since the girls were born on Syttende Mai, Norwegian Independence Day, how about Lena, Loki and Liv?
Live. Laugh. Love…. you could find plenty of sign boards for them! 😂 Congrats! So fun!
So exciting.. I love the lick she gave you, Blake.
The three names we came up with are Linger, Lounger and Loafer. Congrats on a rare successful birth. That is great for the farm.
Lilly
Libby
Lola
Lollipop, Licorice and Lemon Drop
Liberty, Legacy, & Lady (or Lincoln since that is the road your farm is on) & call her Linnie
Louisa, Linn, and Lee…all counties in Iowa
Lucy, Lynn and Lyza
Names suggested for triplets- Lola, Lila, and Lela.
I LOVE all the names submitted and absolutely love the pictures, especially the one where she is giving Brad a lick! Great calendar material!!
In honor of memorial day i chose names that were patriotic. These names come from past presidents and their wives. Liberty which is just patriotic name. Louisa whom was the wife of president adams and lou whom was the wife of president hoover
I went to names of apple varieties in honor of the sire: Lindamac, Lakeland, and Lobo.
Or if you want this as a chance to expand name library for the offspring, try Lady Apple, Lady Hollendale, and Lady Williams (all apple varieties as well).
We’ve had a few sets of triplets over 25 years, but just one set of fairly full term live heifers. They were born on Oct 12, 1998 or 1999, and we named them Nina, Pinta, and Maria.
What a great start all calves and mama are off to!
Live(y), Love(y) and Laugh ❤
Lizzy, Lacey, Legacy
Larissa, Letisha, Letty – all mean joy
Lacerta, Lepus, Libra, Lupus or Lyra – all constellations
Lucille, larea Lavinia
Lexi,Lady and Leah
You could do counties in Iowa:
Lee, Louisa, and Linn.
Car brands: Lexus, Lamborghini, and Lotus!
Lively, Lovely, Lyric
Loveee, Lilac and Lace
live love laugh
Congratulations on Legend and Glory……’s triplets! How about Laurels, Lauda ( short for Laudation), and Lustra (instead of Luster). Laurels, laudation, and luster are all synonyms of the word Glory, as the first part of their father’s (sire’s) name. Or if you have a Bible, check out if there’s any women who have a name that starts with a “L”? I truly believe that it’s worth a try; in Loving the Lord with Legacies. Have a Blessed future with the triplets and prayers for more.
“LOVE” “LIVE” “LEARN” Congratulations Legend ❤ great job, your so blessed
Lollipop, Licorice, Lemon Drop or Life Savers