named Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Moo. On Monday, Jimmy Barling announced that DNA testing would be performed on tissue samples from the four calves to confirm that they were really born from the same mother. Three of the calves were males, and one was female. “We knew she was pregnant, but we didn’t know she was going to do this,” said Barling, 76. “This came as a surprise. This completely blew our brains.”

Dora Rumsey-Barling, Barling’s wife, owns the couple’s 20 or so cattle outside of DeKalb, near the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders. The four black calves were named “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Moo” by Rumsey-Barling’s granddaughter, according to Barling. According to Mike Baird, a local veterinarian, the births were “extremely rare.” According to him, the chances of having four healthy calves produced from a single cow are 1 in 11.2 million.

Baird knows the family and is almost certain that all four calves were born from the same cow, rather than another cow in the region giving birth to one or two calves and then moving on, giving the impression that all four were born from the Barlings’ cow. “In the interest of science and the animal world, it’s one of those things that needs to be verified beyond a shadow of a doubt,” he explained.

When the couple heard buzzards overhead, they went to check on the cow and ended up staying to see her give birth to her fourth calf.Because the mother cow can’t manage it, they must rely on their neighbors to assist in feeding their four calves. Moo has remained with her mother, while Eeny, Meeny, and Miny are being looked after by two different persons. Meeny is the lightest of the calves, at around 25 pounds.