3:08pm Monday 23rd August 2010
By Lawrence Dunhill
ODDS Farm Park in Wooburn Moor is celebrating the rare birth of twin British White calves - a first for the 17-year-old farm.
Staff arrived on Thursday morning to find mum Libby, seven, had given birth by herself in the field.
The new arrivals, one female and one male, have been named Adelaide and Darwin. Staff said they are “very cute, extremely friendly and currently below 70 cm in height”.
Clare Middleton, the livestock manager, said twins are very unusual for cattle, with multiple births having odds of only 1 in 200 for beef cattle and 1 in 50 for dairy cattle.
British Whites are one of the oldest breeds of cattle in the UK and claim direct links with the ancient indigenous wild white cattle of Great Britain.
They were originally dual purpose cattle but are now breed for beef alone.
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