Twins

[wbvs58]

Sounds like he is finding calving a good challenge Jeanne, glad things mostly ended up OK. I bet it is a satisfied type of tired.

Ken

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Ken - yes real good. When I logged out, got in bed & turned cameras on. Twins were just about 1 hour old and were attacking their mom (3 yr old). Guess they are doing great.
First set yesterday morning, live calf was really thin, weak & little (compared to 100# dead one). I had mixed up colostrum, got him to suck bottle & then we helped him up & got him on the teats. While we were pulling the 2nd set - he was up & sucking on his own. So all is great.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Just to report - the 1st twin to the 100# DOA weighed 80# - so that was 180# of calf in her!! No wonder she is thin!
Turned live set of twins & mom out and also the thin cow with the single (twin) calf out this morning.
Usually, only keep in for 24-36 hours (depending if born AM or PM), but like to keep any twins in for a while, and the single twin was pretty weak at birth but doing great.
I need the pens in the barn. Have 3 late ones & 9 due between now & 22nd. Put 7 in barn night before last & none calved - but one OUTSIDE did! :shock: errrr But, great blazed face heifer and doing great. :banana:

 

[Lazy M]

This is her 3rd set in a row. So far she's raised them all to weaning. I put her in the barn for the last 2 sets and supplemented her until grass came on, but the calves were too spry to catch last night so I'll see how she does on just hay. She calved in March last year so she has had 4 calves in the last 12 mos.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Good job!
We had 1 cow had twins in first week of March at age of 8, then twins in Feb, then twins in Jan. and raised them. Some cows are baby machines!!!

 

[Dubcharo]

2 females born January 9 mother was in heat February 23!


2 males born February 20

 

[Nesikep]

I just had my first set of twins in a long time.. I was hoping to get a set to give to the cow that lost her calf and I've been hand milking.. no such luck, this cow has plenty of milk for two calves.. and for the first time she hasn't been stupid at calving time!

 

[Logan52]

I just had a Red Poll X Charolais 1st calf heifer give birth to twin bull calves by an Angus bull. One was shiny black while the other was a silver gray. Her mother is 14 years old and had twins last year. She had another daughter that had twins.
I sold the silver bull calf since it would have been hard on the heifer to raise both.

 

[wbvs58]

I just had my first set of twins in a long time.. I was hoping to get a set to give to the cow that lost her calf and I've been hand milking.. no such luck, this cow has plenty of milk for two calves.. and for the first time she hasn't been stupid at calving time!

Stepping up to the bigger responsibility Nesi????

Ken

 

[BFE]

This is her 3rd set in a row. So far she's raised them all to weaning. I put her in the barn for the last 2 sets and supplemented her until grass came on, but the calves were too spry to catch last night so I'll see how she does on just hay. She calved in March last year so she has had 4 calves in the last 12 mos.

That's one heck of a cow!

Years ago, my dad had a Shorthorn that had 3-4 sets of twins in a row, raised them all every year. Lightning got her and a bunch of others.

I have a Simmental cow that had twins in '16. Raised them on grass. Naturally, they were smaller than the rest of the group, but they did ok. Momma and her group went from a 21 day calving window in '16 to a 30 day window in '17, with Momma having a single in '17. I'm impressed that she kept herself so good raising the twins. Dang those hard doing Simmentals!

 

[Tbrake]

I'm with most on here. Twins suck. I average 3-4 a year. Loose more than live most years. Pulled backwards twin bulls the other morning in pouring rain, both right around 100 lbs. both survived and both are doing well now. Mom is taking care of both. Had another set the next afternoon, bull and heifer. Mom wanted nothing to do with the bull. He was up and trying to suck very quickly and mom would kick him. The twin heifer was very weak and took a lot of help, but tube feed colostrum and pended them up. By the next evening she had finally sucked. I am still tube feeding the bull calf, after pulling him from the pasture he will not suck. In a perfect world there would be no such thing as twins

 

[Silver]

I agree Tbrake, I would far sooner have one good live calf. Had a set of twins yesterday. Had to pull the second calf (freemartin) as it had a front leg back. Mother has tons of milk, but doesn't want the bull calf. So we have a bottle feeder until a suitable mother comes along. Year in year out we get between 8 and 16 sets of twins and it can get to be a trial. Usually end up with a batch that are sucking the bottle good and sell them online.

 

[gcreekrch]

I agree Tbrake, I would far sooner have one good live calf. Had a set of twins yesterday. Had to pull the second calf (freemartin) as it had a front leg back. Mother has tons of milk, but doesn't want the bull calf. So we have a bottle feeder until a suitable mother comes along. Year in year out we get between 8 and 16 sets of twins and it can get to be a trial. Usually end up with a batch that are sucking the bottle good and sell them online.

Funny, we've never had a twinning cow not take both calves until a surrogate is found. Keeping the calves in a pen together and letting the cow in twice daily until she gets accustomed to the idea has always worked.

We've never ended up with a bottle calf either. Debbie is a master at grafting and I've learned a bit.

 

[greybeard]

In a perfect world there would be no such thing as twins

I reckon I'm far from perfect then...
:lol:

I'm a twin..got twin sons..got twin grand sons and twin cousins. My daughter was a twin but her sister was still born.

 

[Silver]

I agree Tbrake, I would far sooner have one good live calf. Had a set of twins yesterday. Had to pull the second calf (freemartin) as it had a front leg back. Mother has tons of milk, but doesn't want the bull calf. So we have a bottle feeder until a suitable mother comes along. Year in year out we get between 8 and 16 sets of twins and it can get to be a trial. Usually end up with a batch that are sucking the bottle good and sell them online.

Funny, we've never had a twinning cow not take both calves until a surrogate is found. Keeping the calves in a pen together and letting the cow in twice daily until she gets accustomed to the idea has always worked.

We've never ended up with a bottle calf either. Debbie is a master at grafting and I've learned a bit.

We do the same with twins as you, keep mom in a stall in close quarters with the twins, letting her out for feed and water every so often. This one just wanted one calf and after 2 days I figured the bull calf was going to get killed so cut the losses.
A year or two ago we ended up calving season with a calf for every cow and sold 6 bottle calves. Sometimes it works out like that and often it doesn't.

 

[Nesikep]

But they're cute! These are the twins I had 2 days ago.. Momma has enough milk for about 6 of them right now, and accepts them both