Pull the udder one: Tyrone farmer's cow gives birth to one-in-11 million quadruplets
But it wasn't until last Friday morning that his expectations would be doubled as he made four consecutive deliveries at his Strabane farm.
Richard explained that he had been testing and checking his Holstein Friesians on Friday morning when he noticed a sign that one of them was about to give birth.
'Whenever we got her in then, after the test and the reading was over, I examined her. And whenever I put my hand in, I could feel four feet coming at the one time,' he said.
'I was sort of suspicious of her maybe going to have twins when she was very big in size. And she did have twins last year, on July 1.'
Clear his cow was ready to deliver, Richard needed all the help he could get quickly and so called for his father, Willie (79), as well as his daughter Lucy (21).
'[We] started calving her. We got the first one out and I put my hand in again and there was another one,' the 52-year-old continued.
'And then I said I'll just check to see if there are any more. I put my hand in again and there was another calf.
'I [didn't] think there would be any more, but I did just put my hand in just to check — and then there was a fourth calf.'
While the first three calves came out head-first, the fourth had twisted in the womb and was birthed backwards, which subjected it to breathing difficulties.
Thinking on her feet, Lucy grabbed some straw and wedged a handful up the calf's nose, which helped with decongestion, saving its life.
Richard said: 'The other three had been coming out front-ways, the normal way, but the fourth one was coming backwards and when we got it out it wasn't breathing.
'So, my daughter, she started putting straw up the calf's nose and the next thing then it started to breathe.
'So it turned out that the fourth one was alive as well.
'We couldn't believe that there were four calves. Any time we ever had cows calving before, it was always either singles or twins. Never did I see the like of it before.
'The fourth calf, it could have been a fatality, so the extra help was good to have.'
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According to the Irish Farmers Journal, the odds of four live calves are one in 11 million, while four identical calves are a billion to one.
The arrival brought a shock to the local farming community, as well as to Richard's local practice, Parkview Vets, with one worker saying she had never seen quadruplets in her almost 40-year career.
The calves are standing strong, remain in good health and can all feed independently.
Richard added: 'We have the four of them feeding together, in the pen, off a feeder.
'I just can't get over how well they're doing.'
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