Look What We Found This Morning !

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momagoat61

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Twin bull calves ! She already had them when my brother went out this morning and found them at 6:30 a.m.. We thought she was going to calf late yesterday evening when she left the herd of 27 and went up and over the hill by herself. All we could do was hope for the best and that there would not be a problem with the birth. Both calves are large for twins, but one is just a little bit smaller and has a little bit of a problem with its front feet wanting to buckle over at the first hock. We got them to the barn after we let the mom bond with them out in the pasture for a while. Both have nursed and the cow is excepting and licking them both. The one with the buckled feet bucks around just like his brother and both are doing great this evening. This is the second set of twins born this year, the first was small twin heifer calves and the first was coming back feet first and well we lost them both. We are going to keep them confined to the barn for several days and turn them in with the cow during the day which we have just a tube gate between them until the one with the buckled feet gets stronger. The cow gives a good bit of milk but for her to raise them both we just aren't sure at this time if that will be possible. Right now they both will nurse the cow until we decide.

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Separated because the one with the front leg problems gets pushed around by the stronger calve and get pushed off the teat. We let the smaller calve nurse first and then let the bigger calve nurse and then we will leave both calves in together with the cow all day and see how it goes. This morning the front feet are even better then yesterday evening on the smaller calve. Probably will start leaving them both in with the cow this afternoon. Both have nursed this morning the the smaller calve is in with the cow right now and the large one is in view but separated by the gate. Its only until the legs straigthen more.
 
Put them back with the cow and LEAVE THEM THE HE77 ALONE

The less you interfer the better off they will be
if you don't think the cow can raise twins then pull one of them off and sell it or raise it on a bottle which IMO is the last thing I would want to do
 
The "buckled feet" is just slightly contracted tendons, let them out the more he moves the better, the feet will be 100% in two weeks time, but likely much sooner than that. Let the cow raise both till the bigger one is 300lbs or so and then sell it straight off the cow and let the other one nurse till normal weaning age.
 
The buckled over first knuckle is generally caused from the calf being "crowded" & kept his legs doubled up inside cow - the tendons just need time to stretch out. Nothing to worry about.

I also wondered why the heck you would seperate the cow from the calves?? for any length of time.

Cow is pretty thin (which is normal for them to lose some condition carrying twins - but she is thinner than what I would consider letting her raise the two calves - without suppliment). I'm not looking at her belly - I'm looking at the lack of muscling/meat between hooks & pins. Looks like a decent cow - just very thin.
 
I have been a reader of this forum for about 2 + years and this was my very first post, but not my first rodeo or my first set of twins in my 40 years of raising cattle 80+ beef cattle.. But this was my first and last post on this forum! yep you can bet your augus cow dude on that...
 
Angus Cowman":22wc9qrs said:
Put them back with the cow and LEAVE THEM THE HE77 ALONE

The less you interfer the better off they will be
if you don't think the cow can raise twins then pull one of them off and sell it or raise it on a bottle which IMO is the last thing I would want to do
:nod: my thoughts exactly.
 
Why are people so upset when you say something bad about their beloved cows? Cuss, critize, and make fun of my cows, or make fun of the way I do it. It's my way and the cows are mine, I don't care what anyone thinks. I would never stop posting, or posting pictures of my cows, or bulls, because of what someone I don't know thinks of them. I guess maybe I'm not sentisive enough. gs
 
plumber_greg":imav96r6 said:
Why are people so upset when you say something bad about their beloved cows? Cuss, critize, and make fun of my cows, or make fun of the way I do it. It's my way and the cows are mine, I don't care what anyone thinks. I would never stop posting, or posting pictures of my cows, or bulls, because of what someone I don't know thinks of them. I guess maybe I'm not sentisive enough. gs
Greg
I have heard you ARE a sensitive type Guy :lol: :lol:

or maybe it was I heard you are an insensitive A$$hole

well whichever one I am glad I haven't ran you off yet but then again you haven't called lately
 
Congratulations on your lovely set of twin bulls - and you're taking excellent care of them too. We notice several sets a year in our charolais and it's always a "fun" discovery to make! As a general rule, depending on their location and if the cow is mothering them well, we leave both with her if we have green grass. If it's the dry season like it is now here, we might pick one up, like I did day before yesterday, and handrear it. I've never found it a "burden" to have to rear a few calves each year!

Your cow looks to be in very acceptable condition to me, and should be quite capable of rearing both for you. Good luck!!
 
ARGH typo, that should have read, So are angus cows beef cattle and is it common for them to have twins?

Suzie: a lot of libraries around here have a book full of photos illustrating NZ/Aus cattle breeds. You'll find Angus in there.
or on sites like this
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
or this
http://www.embryoplus.com/cattle_angus.html

If you ask here someone might be sorely tempted to inform you that Angus are a sought-after dairy breed known for producing quads consisting entirely of heifers, and especially valued for their up-curved horns.
 
I only asked because there are a lot of threads on here about twins, but most of them do not state what breed the parents are.

Someone just posted above that it was a Charolais that gave birth to twins. Next door to here have Charolais and I have Charolais crosses.

In 7 years we have never had twins, TOUCHWOOD, so I was thinking that it might be dairy breeds that have twins. But as far as I know both Charolais and Angus are beef cattle, so I was wrong.

We have had a few friesians in the past and a part jersey and they never twinned but they weren't here long.

I was just wondering why so many twins in this forum and why we haven't had any?
 

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