The cattle farmer, with husband Brian Bulmer, soon found they had an unheard-of miracle: calf quadruplets born to a first-time mother.

In the sleepy town of Peelwood, one hour north of Crookwell, the couple had left the farm for a few days’ break over late December.

Their heifer, “Mrs Kelly”, was due to birth a calf, but when Mrs Bulmer returned home the day after Christmas, she was surprised.

She thought some of their 250 herd had strayed, she said, pointing from her veranda to the paddock on their 650-hectare land.

“But we came home to four new calves.”

Mrs Kelly had given birth to quadruplets, fondly called “the Kelly Gang”: a bull called Ned, and three heifers, Agnes, Rose and Fox.

“They were clean, up and running, all settled and sucking,” Mrs Bulmer said.

“We give them hay and some protein pellets, but she has milked them herself, which is excellent.”

A report in veterinary obstetrics suggests a quadruplets birth where all four calves survive has a probability of one in 11.2 million.

The quads’ father, “Darius”, is known for having red calves and multiple twins in the past. Fox, the smallest of the three heifers, is covered in ashy red fur.

“They’re beautiful calves. They’ve been like that since day one,” Mr Bulmer said. 

Mr Bulmer performs community work at Peelwood cemetery, and has taken a special interest in the neglected grave of a young girl who died in the 1800s. Her name – Agnes Rose Fox.

“She is the only Fox in the cemetery," he said. “When Mrs Kelly had the three girls, I just thought of her.”

Landmark Goulburn livestock manager Daniel Croker said he had never heard of a heifer having quads in 30 years in the industry.

“You get twins, that’s every now and again,” Mr Croker said. “I’ve never heard or seen of this before; especially for the one cow to have multiple births like that, and for all of them to survive.”

Now the Bulmers’ only wish is that their beloved Kelly Gang continues to buck the system.