I purchased some cows from a Veterinarian, and we were talking about cattle that were one of a pair of twins. I told him that I suspected that my old herd bull Boomer was a twin or his dam, because the heifers I had at the house that were out of him, I could always plan on having at least one to have twins if not two of them. So, I wanted to avoid that problem.
He told me that if I was having that many twins that it was not coming from the animals, but from a strong source of estrogen feed they were eating that was increasing likelihood for them to have twins. At first I thought, that can't be, but the longer I thought about it, it made a lot o sense.
My pasture has more Durana Clover in it than it does grass, which would be the estrogen source. Those cows eat the clover first before they touch the grass. Then when they had heifers that went to the farms in Rutherford, no twins were born. So, genetically, it was the same herd and genetics, but no twins. There was a very slight amount of Durana Clover at that farm. Nell, Bee, and Weeone, had twins often. Nell was the only one that refused the second calf as the other two would take both.
This year, the grazing will be different. My grandson came in and killed all that stinking yellow buttercup off with 2,4DB, that will not kill clover, but it let the Bermuda get a super strong hold on the pasture this year. (I am anxious to see if any of that crap shows up again this spring) I am hoping that it will calm some of the clover down as that Durana is supposed to hang with aggressive grasses. I like that high clover for the protein, and the clover is always putting nitrogen back into the soil which constantly feeds the grasses. I do not want twins with these Piedmontese. They were pregnant before they got here, so I am safe this time. We will see.
He told me that if I was having that many twins that it was not coming from the animals, but from a strong source of estrogen feed they were eating that was increasing likelihood for them to have twins. At first I thought, that can't be, but the longer I thought about it, it made a lot o sense.
My pasture has more Durana Clover in it than it does grass, which would be the estrogen source. Those cows eat the clover first before they touch the grass. Then when they had heifers that went to the farms in Rutherford, no twins were born. So, genetically, it was the same herd and genetics, but no twins. There was a very slight amount of Durana Clover at that farm. Nell, Bee, and Weeone, had twins often. Nell was the only one that refused the second calf as the other two would take both.
This year, the grazing will be different. My grandson came in and killed all that stinking yellow buttercup off with 2,4DB, that will not kill clover, but it let the Bermuda get a super strong hold on the pasture this year. (I am anxious to see if any of that crap shows up again this spring) I am hoping that it will calm some of the clover down as that Durana is supposed to hang with aggressive grasses. I like that high clover for the protein, and the clover is always putting nitrogen back into the soil which constantly feeds the grasses. I do not want twins with these Piedmontese. They were pregnant before they got here, so I am safe this time. We will see.
