Roma

[Nesikep]

Well.. a couple years ago I kinda gave my cow Roma to a friend who's done a lot for me.. Roma on the other hand wasn't doing all that much for me, raised 2 dinks in a row, I told him if he didn't like her, he didn't have to keep her around for my sake.
Anyhow, last year she had a heifer, and it actually turned out pretty good, Limo sired from my bull, He's keeping her as a replacement.
Tonight, Roma had twins! Good lord, she's going to have her work cut out to supply them with more than a survival ration.. They're sired by her 3/4 brother Hector.. The heifer calf looks like Momma with a white face, the bull calf is all brown and looks like daddy! I bet they're going to become determined milk thieves!

It's the first time any of the "Josie" line of cows have ever had twins... closing in on 100 calves from that line now

Roma when she was about 6 months or so... I'll post pictures of the twins when he sends some to me

 

[Nesikep]

Here's the babies.. Jack and Jill.. and momma looking at them in wonder

 

[Waterway65]

I would suggest selling the free Martin heifer and letting the bull have all the milk.

 

[frieghttrain]

Here's the babies.. Jack and Jill.. and momma looking at them in wonder

Dang They're cute!

 

[Nesikep]

She's sure proud of them.. don't tell me cows can't count to at least 2!

They'll be small, but with the price of bottle calves these days you probably aren't ahead selling one of them off.. when you'd get $600 or more for a bottle baby it made more sense.. Then on the other hand you got stupid money for light weaned calves.. in September 2015 I got $3.75/lb for a 385 lb dink ($1440)... still made it worth it to keep the two of them

 

[farmerjan]

If the cow is where you can access the calves fairly easily, start just supplementing one or even both with a bottle. Once they get to realize that you are also a milk source, they will probably come running to you when you call them. This way, they will still be with mom and still getting as much as she can supply, but you can help them to grow a little better. Bottle calves here have dropped way off, most holsteins are in the $50 range, so it probably isn't worth selling the heifer. Plus, there is always the possibility that you might need a calf to go on another cow.
I had an old cow that had a calf and had very little milk. She was a bought cow for next to nothing, and she had a decent calf. I just started giving it a bottle once a day, and she would come running to me after about a week and just devour the bottle. Then when it was empty, she would go back and get a little more from momma. It wasn't an ideal situation, but the cow gained some weight, raised the calf with some help, and I got back more for the cow than I paid so the calf was nearly all "profit", it doesn't always work that way, but it was worth it.

 

[Nesikep]

Hopefully his old Jersey will calf soon.. she can handle an extra one or two

 

[reeler]

Hopefully his old Jersey will calf soon.. she can handle an extra one or two

Absolutely Beautiful twins, congrats to you & Roma! Thanks for pics. Please update on them. My vet told me there's actually a test that will determine if the female twin is fertile. The percentage is very low, but apparently there is a chance.

 

[Nesikep]

yes, the percentage chance is about 7-12% IIRC.. I don't think you'd want her as a twin anyhow though