Heidi gives birth to her 16th calf at 16 years of age

Heidi, a mother cow belonging to Roman Hürlimann from Walchwil, is an exceptional animal. She has now received an award for her longevity and fertility.
 

At 16 years of age, she has already given birth to 16 calves, and is still going strong: Heidi is anything but your average mother cow. For her extraordinary lifetime achievement, she has now received the Herdbook Award in Gold from the Swiss Mother Cow Association (Organisation Mutterkuh Schweiz), which is given only once a year per breed.

"I’m absolutely delighted with the award," says farmer Roman Hürlimann. "It's not a given that a cow will live so long and still be in good health." For years, he has observed Heidi mastering one trouble-free birth after another, while remaining healthy and productive. He knew early on that if any of his cows had the potential for the Herdbook Award, it would be Heidi. The fact that it actually worked out now fills him with pride.

The 36-year-old runs the farm on the Walchwilerberg together with his wife Mirjam, who also grew up on a farm. He knew from an early age that he would become a farmer. After his apprenticeship, he initially worked on another farm, and he says that this experience helped him later on, when the couple took over his own farm from his parents about ten years ago.

What makes a cow worthy of a gold award
In order to receive the Gold Herdbook Award, cows must demonstrate exceptional performance over several years. The crucial factors thereby are above-average conformation – the cows' size, udder and feet are evaluated – longevity, and trouble-free calving. Gold is only awarded after twelve calvings, and Heidi has long since surpassed this mark with her 16 calves.

Roman Hürlimann has won the Gold Herdbook Award with his cow Heidi (right), an Original Braunvieh.
He runs a farm on the Walchwilerberg.
Heidi (right) with her 16th calf.       Photos: Jakob Ineichen
 

The fact that Heidi has already given birth to 16 calves at the age of 16 may sound astonishing at first, but Roman Hürlimann explained it. She had her first calf just before her third birthday and, from then on, she calved every year, and even produced twins twice. This number makes her a real exception. "If a cow has calved six or seven times, that's already good. More than twelve calves is actually a lot. This might only happen once in a stall, but mostly never."

Heidi is a Swiss Original Brown breed, and is a suckler cow. This means that her calf can stay with her and drink her milk; she is not milked commercially. Unlike on a dairy farm, the milk is used entirely for raising the calf. The calves are later marketed as ‘Natura-Beef’.

A cow with character
But it isn't just her performance that is impressive; her temperament is also extraordinary, reports the farmer. "She's a very productive cow, and she also takes excellent care of her calf." She's stubborn, though: "She simply has a mind of her own." says Roman Hürlimann, referring with a laugh to a saying of his father: "She just has to live." And he adds: "Back in the day, people used to say: 'Those old cows just have a mind of their own.' You find that with people, too."

Heidi probably inherited her strong will and good genes from her mother, her owner suspects: "She also lived to an unusually old age and also gave birth to many calves." But the golden cow doesn't receive any special treatment: "We treat them all the same."

Heidi has also passed on her genes. Several of her offspring have been bred, and two sons have even been used as breeding bulls. "You can find her calves scattered all over Switzerland." How many offspring does she have in total? Roman Hürlimann has calculated that there must now be 1,035 of them. "And the number keeps growing."

In addition to a gold plaque, he also received an invitation to a breeders' evening. The award is a welcome recognition for the farmer. But what's more important to him is that Heidi, at 16 years old, is still healthy and is thriving in the pasture. What makes her so special? He doesn't have to think long: "She's not just a good one cow, she's also beautiful."