Keeping twins for replacement.

[tex452]

My neighbor has two heifers that belonged to separate sets of twins.
The mother cows both rejected these heifers and he acquired them, now he is wanting to breed them.
The question I have is, will twins breed?
Are they sterile?
I have had several sets of twins but never kept any.
I was told they will not breed, but I don't know for sure. My neighbor is wanting to bring them over to my bull, it's fine with me I just don't want him wasting his time.

 

[Warren Allison]

If they are free martins they won't. Were their twins bulls or heifer claves?

 

[A.J.]

If the other twin was a bull calf, they are about guaranteed to be non-breeders. If the other twin was a heifer, they should breed most likely.

 

[tex452]

If the other twin was a bull calf, they are about guaranteed to be non-breeders. If the other twin was a heifer, they should breed most likely.

I'll have to find out.

 

[tex452]

The more I look into this situation the worse it gets.
I talked to my neighbor he said that he knows for sure ones mate was a heifer.
His wife won't let him sell or butcher them because of sentimental reasons.
She got them from an old friend that has since passed away.
I told him his wife's friend wouldn't want her to hold on to them if they couldn't breed, if he was a cow man.
Oh well.

 

[Travlr]

The more I look into this situation the worse it gets.
I talked to my neighbor he said that he knows for sure ones mate was a heifer.
His wife won't let him sell or butcher them because of sentimental reasons.
She got them from an old friend that has since passed away.
I told him his wife's friend wouldn't want her to hold on to them if they couldn't breed, if he was a cow man.
Oh well.

I don't keep twins because they are fairly likely to have genes for twinning, and pass on their twinning genes. My experience with cows that produce twins is they are nothing but trouble.

 

[Dusty Britches]

And my experience is just the opposite of Travlr. I kept the last twin heifer calves from a super nice Brangus and both of those heifer produced and I still have one of them. The other one died of tetanus but had a heifer calf at the time. I wasn't keeping replacements at that time so I sold her with the rest of the weanlings. Most of the time when we have twins it is because the nutritional intake has been well above average.

We never keep either twin if they are male and female.

 

[suzorse]

I would have both checked for breeding soundness , before him bringing them over , and if he wants to keep a freemartin as a pet , it is no different than keeping a steer as a pet , not all heifer twins to a bull are freemartins , but most are
Suzanne

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

My heifers born twin to a heifer make great COWS. I have never culled one because she was a twin. Last year, at the age of 16, I culled a cow that was born a twin, had her FIRST set of twins in the fall (Sept, 2021) at age 15. Raised both heifers thru the winter on baleage. Was open in spring at 16, so culled her. Both daughters are bred back due to calve in September, 2023.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I'll have to find out.

On the off chance you can't find out what sex the other twin is/was, a blood test can be done to determine if you heifer twin is or is not a free martin. You can test the heifer if her twin was a bull as sometimes (VERY rarely) the heifer is not a free Martin. But my thought would be you would be wasting your time and money testing, its that rare. @A.J. and @Warren Allison make points that are well worth heeding.

 

[TCRanch]

I kept a twin, sold her sister private treaty, and neither ever had twins.

Yup, blood test & your vet can examine her to determine if she's a freemartin.

 

[sstterry]

When twins are in the womb, if one is a male, the male hormones interfere with the reproductive development of the female twin which causes a "freemartin" or sterile heifer. Two males are ok so are two females, but one of each means the heifer is most likely sterile.

 

[Rmc]

Once I changed my selection protocol to never keep a breeding animal that wasn't completely raised by its mother it made life much easier. And reduced lots of issues.if a cow has the genetic potential to have two calves , then she better have the genetic potential to raise both unassisted and breed back on time.
IMHO motherability is a genetic trait and ignorance of that will lead to all kinds of problems both in your herd and in entire populations

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Once I changed my selection protocol to never keep a breeding animal that wasn't completely raised by its mother it made life much easier. And reduced lots of issues.if a cow has the genetic potential to have two calves , then she better have the genetic potential to raise both unassisted and breed back on time.
IMHO motherability is a genetic trait and ignorance of that will lead to all kinds of problems both in your herd and in entire populations

You are absolutely correct. It is more than just your opinion though. It is a fact and has been proven through research.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The COW is everything. Her temperament, fertility, mothering ability, milking ability, thriftyness (easy keeper), structure - you name it - and for me, her pheno-type.

 

[Silver]

I have kept many twins that were grafted onto another cow and they have the same odds of staying in the herd as any others.