MEET Laura, Ben and Tom, the triplet calves who have beaten the odds after being born successfully on a farm in Cornwall.

Mother Caesar gave birth to the rare bovine triplets at Gary Bridgeman's dairy farm in Landrake, near Saltash – defying odds of 100,000 to one.

The new arrivals and their mother are said to be doing well.

Mr Bridgeman said: "You don't expect triplets. We had Caesar scanned but you never ask how many, so it's a bit of a miracle to me. The mother was named so because she was born by Caesarian last year as she was a twin.

"That was a big enough surprise for me as I'd never had twin calves before so it's amazing to have triplets. My niece's children named the new arrivals and they helped me to make sure they began suckling.

"At the moment, Caesar is managing her large brood, but if she runs out of milk, we will need to foster one of them on to another cow."

Like humans, the average gestation period is about 285 days or nine months. A newborn calf will typically weigh between 40kg and 50kg.

Peter Hall, farming editor of the Western Morning News, said: "For a cow to give birth to triplets, and for all of them to be born alive, is extremely rare.

"But it does happen. A few years ago, there were triplets born at Landulph, not so far away from Landrake – so perhaps there's something in the water!"