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By Liz O'Connell
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Despite knowing a cow on the South Dakota ranch was pregnant, one family woke up early one morning to a once-in-a-lifetime miracle: healthy, quadruplet calves.
Liv Stavick told Newsweek via email that her family knew about the cow's pregnancy. Their animals receive ultrasounds during pregnancy to help estimate due dates and know which ones need to be near the barn during calving. The veterinarian will often pick up on the ultrasound whether there will be more than one calf or not; however, they had no notes about more.
"She did get very large in the weeks leading up to calving, and my dad actually started to worry something was wrong, like maybe a calf had died inside her," Stavick said. "We were bracing for a problem, not a surprise like this."
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Stavick said the cow was in labor for about four hours. Her dad grew concerned while he kept an eye on her overnight because she "wasn't making any progress." He eventually decided to step in and assist with the delivery.
In her August 28 TikTok video posted to the account @livstavick, Stavick recounted the events that unfolded in the early, frigid February morning. Her dad assisted this mama cow with giving birth to four healthy calves of the same sex. Part of the caption reads: "It’s not every day you get to raise a one-in-179-million miracle."
An article from the Irish Farmer's Journal reported that the chance of having quadruplet calves is one out of 700,000. The odds of all four being alive become one out of 11 million. Then, having four healthy, quadruplet calves all the same sex is about one out of 180 million.
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Stavick received the text from her father about the news at around 4 a.m. Thinking he was excited about a calf being born, she ignored it originally, but when more texts started rolling in, she watched the clip in disbelief. She said she has never been so thrilled to throw on coveralls and rush into subzero temperatures to see the miracles in person.
"When I saw the quads, I couldn’t stop jumping up and down with excitement," she said. "My dad, my brother, and I were like three giddy kids that morning."
The family quickly gave the mother cow fresh feed and water, supplemented with electrolytes. Stavick said they were all blown away by how quickly she bounced back after delivering four calves.
"For what she went through, she did amazingly well!" she said. "Right away, she went to work licking each of the calves off and taking care of them like it was no big deal."
The video provided an update on the calves. Knowing the mama likely wouldn't be able to care for all four calves, the family put two of them with the other cows who lost their babies.
While this rare birth on their farm left the family in shock, Stavick said the timing made it even more special. The calves were born a day before the family held their 25th annual bull sale, which is the family's main source of income for the year. She felt it was "divine intervention." And that sale the next day became the best they've had.
These four calves have grown into "sturdy, young bulls." She explained in the video that they'll allow her brother to scratch them while out on the pasture. The calves will stay with the family until February 2026, when they will be part of the next annual sale.
Viewer Reactions
The TikTok video amassed over 2.2 million views, 484,200 likes and 3,702 comments as of Wednesday.
"It’s hard enough to save twins. I’ve never heard of quads. That is so neat," wrote one person.
Another added: "I fully expected them to be tiny and sickly looking, but my goodness, she birthed and raised 4 stocky calves! Good mama!"
Several people commented on how impressed they were with the mama cow, whom she referred to as 458. Someone said: "458 needs a name! That girl put in some work birthing 4 babies at once!"
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Correction 10/02/25, 11:42 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to correct a typo in a quote.
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