is this possible?

Help Support CattleToday:

Ryan

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
2,637
Reaction score
1
Location
Texas
Someone told me of this happening but i am pretty skeptical about it:

Cow gets bred on Cycle 1. 21+/- days later on Cycle 2 cow gets bred again. 9 months later Cow has a calf. 21 +/- days later, she has another calf. Breeder was told that cow was bred twice and had the calves from getting bred on 2 different cycles, and they are not twins born 3 weeks apart.

I do not really see how this is possible. Has anyone seen this before?

I assumed they were either twins born a few weeks apart, or the cow stole another cow's calf.

What do yall think?

Ryan
 
Yes have heard of this happening, pregnancies in each horn at different times. And why aren't they twins, or at least half-twins they have the same dam?

Is your cow blue?
 
cherokeeruby":128pn3hy said:
Yes have heard of this happening, pregnancies in each horn at different times. And why aren't they twins, or at least half-twins they have the same dam?

Interesting. I am surprised that could happen. I wonder if the cow not recognizing the first pregnancy could lead to more feritility problems?

cherokeeruby":128pn3hy said:
Is your cow blue?

Yeah, its a new breed I'm working on part Longhorn, Belgian Blue, and part Gray brahman. I call em Blue Horns.. ;-)
 
I'm not trying to steer this post in another direction but, how well would the second calf fair since the cow would already be milking and I assume (Ya I know what happens when I do this) that there isn't any colostrum for the second one?
 
Are you guys being completely serious here...or pulling someone's leg???

if you are serious...how common is this?
 
As in all thing's in life,yes it is possible for this to happen.It is the exception, and not the rule.

I don't know if Jack Co. is ready for blue cattle or not.
 
jgn":113nvqj7 said:
I'm not trying to steer this post in another direction but, how well would the second calf fair since the cow would already be milking and I assume (Ya I know what happens when I do this) that there isn't any colostrum for the second one?

Great questions. These are some of the questions I was wondering about if this really did happen.

It seems to me there would be, or could be, many negative side effects of having multiple offspring in a manner like this. I am not sure how comfortable I would be keeping her and her offspring in my herd.

Ryan
 
Here is a link to a study that was done on something similar to this at LSU

http://etd02.lnx390.lsu.edu/docs/availa ... 02-222405/

I have never witnessed cattle doing this. I have never met anyone who has witnessed this. Based upon the study on the link above, I guess it is possible for a cow to be bred after she becomes pregnant, but it does not appear that she will have calves at different times.

When the cow goes into labor, how does she only give birth to one calf?

Sorry guys and gals, but I think this one is BS. Can't happen. I'd have to see it to believe it.
 
SF":4o15rhb5 said:
When the cow goes into labor, how does she only give birth to one calf?

That is a great point. With that amount of force wouldn't the labor flush out all foreign objects?

I am still having a tough time believing this could happen. Maybe I need to see it to believe?

Ryan
 
Cows have two horns, they can get pregnant in either one. If they do have calves developing in each horn labor is not necessarily going to expell the calf in the other horn.
 
but if they were only 30 +/- days apart, wouldn't both be in the uterus at the time of the first birth?
 
my first thought was a hormonal problem. Because at day 15 or 16 post fertilization the developing embryo (blastocyst) will produce bovine-Interferon tau (bIFN-t) which should allow the female to recognize she is pregnant. By getting fertilized twice in two consecutive cycles this should indicate a hormonal problem. However, I do know there always some exceptions to the rule, and I was interested what everyone else thought or knew about this.

Thanks for all the replies, and keep em comin.

Ryan
 
jerry27150":3ry7ye7v said:
you will probably have to feed the second calf or put on another cow. i did

have you had any health problems with the second calf?

Ryan
 

Latest posts

Top