Twins

[CalumetFarms]

My first set of twins in years, guess my streak ran out. Two big heifers.
Any merit to the theory that nutrition level during conception will cause/influence twins? I know some folks that are always dealing with them.
It'll be a decent deal if I can keep em both going.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Idk about nutrition level. I think it has more to do with how the egg or eggs get fertilized.
I cannot remember if it was @Jeanne - Simme Valley or @farmerjan who had a lot of experience with twins. But I remember something about twins in one sack or seperate sacks in the womb. And something about being a split embryo or 2 seperate embryos

But I love a cow that'll raise more than one!

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

She looks like she can handle two. Congrats

 

[CalumetFarms]

She cleaned them both good, and for the first few hours let both nurse several times.
But she started pushing one off, pretty persistently. I watched her a while and she took her "chosen one" and marched off making a point to not bring the other. I think she got confused by two calves trying to nurse simultaneously.
I've got the one in the barn on bottle for now. Big strong calf. I might try and get her back on momma tomorrow.

 

[MurraysMutts]

She cleaned them both good, and for the first few hours let both nurse several times.
But she started pushing one off, pretty persistently. I watched her a while and she took her "chosen one" and marched off making a point to not bring the other. I think she got confused by two calves trying to nurse simultaneously.
I've got the one in the barn on bottle for now. Big strong calf. I might try and get her back on momma tomorrow.

Hopefully she comes around to the idea.
Some cows just can't count to 2!
I've helped them on occasion....

Pen em all up, feed her and let em both nurse while she's eating. She may or may not come around to the idea. It can take weeks,, But I've found that the cast off calf will sneak in while the other is nursing and sometimes mama is none the wiser!
Bottle calves are great fun, but it's easier when mama does it.
Hope it all works out!

 

[wbvs58]

They look pretty robust. I got 2 sets this year out of 36 cows. My strike rate is usually just 1 set every 3-4 years. Last summer was very good season wise however things were still tough when joining happened, both sets were to the cleanup bull. I think that there is some way that animals physiology/biology knows what is ahead season wise and these things happen accordingly, same reason that heifers out numbered bulls 2 to 1 this year also. I lost the heifer from the mixed set of twins but the two heifer twins are healthy but very small, I weighed and vaccinated my herd with 7in1 this morning and the total weight of the two heifers is only marginally above other calves born at the same time. It was the cows 2nd calving and she did a good job with her 1st calf but I would say was at the limit of her milking ability so no room for improvement feeding 2.

Ken

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Yes, I have a good amount of twins. According to Cornell speakers at meetings years ago, they contribute a lot of twinning on nutrition. But, mostly it's fertility (I think). Have no idea what the "numbers" are now, but it used to be said "average twinning is like 8%" - Simmentals were at 13%.
@CalumetFarms - to me, the worse thing you could do is separate them. Like Murry said, lock them up together.
Mine calve in a pen or if a screw up and they calve outside - they get put together in a pen for several days. Mom and calves need to figure things out. Like mentioned, not all cows can count to 2 and they can have a hard time accepting both, although I don't think I have ever had one reject the 2nd calf completely. But, again, they are kept together.
Your cow looks milky enough to handle the two.
Ken, I rarely have a twin weigh less than 70#.
If I have a cow lose a calf, I definitely splice one of the twins on her. Takes a while, but it works, and takes the pressure off the original dam.
Twin heifers - BONUS!!!

 

[TCRanch]

The longer mama & her chosen twin are apart from the rejected one in your barn, the harder it will be for her to accept it. I'd get her in - yesterday. I've never had a happy reunion. When I got mama & her fave to the barn on my last set of twins, she knocked her rejected calf around so hard I had to separate them. Persistent little bugger somehow made it through the panels during the night & was with her & his twin when I found them in the morning. She eventually succumbed to taking care of him but would NOT let him nurse. After 10 days, I finally let them join the herd and I had a bottle calf that would come running as soon as he heard my Polaris. Fast forward a month and another cow adopted the rejected twin and raised him with her own.

Good luck!

 

[Stocker Steve]

Lots of twinning with dairies. Some is genetic, but high-level environmental explanation is dietary stress causes cows to compensate with two calves.

We calve on grass, and only about 20% of our cows will mother up two calves on their own. So we call one culling strike for twinning.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

If I remember correctly the twinning gene is carried by the bull according to the Nebraska University Research Study on the subject.

 

[Silver]

If I remember correctly the twinning gene is carried by the bull according to the Nebraska University Research Study on the subject.

That is entirely possible, but many people will believe that a bull will throw twins, which is not the case. All he can do is provide his gene to his female offspring so that they may conceive twins at some future point.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

That is entirely possible, but many people will believe that a bull will throw twins, which is not the case. All he can do is provide his gene to his female offspring so that they may conceive twins at some future point.

Results from the Twinning Project at the U S Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) Clay Center, Nebraska is available on line to anyone
interested in the subject.

 

[CalumetFarms]

Lots of twinning with dairies. Some is genetic, but high-level environmental explanation is dietary stress causes cows to compensate with two calves.

We calve on grass, and only about 20% of our cows will mother up two calves on their own. So we call one culling strike for twinning.

That's really interesting, I almost would have guessed the opposite, in times of surplus the dams body would allow an additional egg.

The longer mama & her chosen twin are apart from the rejected one in your barn, the harder it will be for her to accept it. I'd get her in - yesterday. I've never had a happy reunion. When I got mama & her fave to the barn on my last set of twins, she knocked her rejected calf around so hard I had to separate them. Persistent little bugger somehow made it through the panels during the night & was with her & his twin when I found them in the morning. She eventually succumbed to taking care of him but would NOT let him nurse. After 10 days, I finally let them join the herd and I had a bottle calf that would come running as soon as he heard my Polaris. Fast forward a month and another cow adopted the rejected twin and raised him with her own.

Good luck!

I did end up reuniting the twin to mamma and her sister yesterday morning, brought them to her pen. She will lick and protect both, and interestingly she will nurse either one in the absence of the other. But together there's a clear favorite, she kicks the one when her sister is within sight. Can't leave them together unattended for her sake.
She'll just be a bottle calf, or better yet a free agent in case any loose a calf

 

[Buck Randall]

That's really interesting, I almost would have guessed the opposite, in times of surplus the dams body would allow an additional egg.

This is the case, indirectly. Cows are more likely to double ovulate on the first cycle after an anovular period. Cows that are in a negative energy balance usually won't cycle, but when that energy balance is corrected they tend to double ovulate. That's one of the reasons twinning is higher in cows that are better milkers.

 

[MurraysMutts]

This is the case, indirectly. Cows are more likely to double ovulate on the first cycle after an anovular period. Cows that are in a negative energy balance usually won't cycle, but when that energy balance is corrected they tend to double ovulate. That's one of the reasons twinning is higher in cows that are better milkers.

This is really kool info!
I have not had time to get the one that aborted preg checked. I tend to feed mine well and she was in good shape. So IF she was bred on her first cycle, the likelihood she was carrying twins is higher????

 

[Buck Randall]

This is really kool info!
I have not had time to get the one that aborted preg checked. I tend to feed mine well and she was in good shape. So IF she was bred on her first cycle, the likelihood she was carrying twins is higher????

Potentially. The abortion rate on twin pregnancies is pretty high.

 

[Dsth]

She cleaned them both good, and for the first few hours let both nurse several times.
But she started pushing one off, pretty persistently. I watched her a while and she took her "chosen one" and marched off making a point to not bring the other. I think she got confused by two calves trying to nurse simultaneously.
I've got the one in the barn on bottle for now. Big strong calf. I might try and get her back on momma tomorrow.

I had a cow do the same thing you are describing last year. I bottle fed the rejected calf for about three days but the cow always had access to the calf. one morning, the calf did not want the bottle and seemed to be healthy. Kept an eye on her and mommy started coming in to feed her and eventually both calves stayed with her like a big happy family. hope yours turns out the same.

 

[FlyingLSimmentals]

Twins are cute, fun, and can create a little more $. But mostly headaches here. Have been getting 1 - 3 sets every year for like the last 20 years from around 30 - 40 cows. My first twenty years we hardly ever had a set. I'm 40. Don't know what happened. I would've liked to fool with them those 1st twenty years. Got a Cowboy Cut daughter nursing two identical heifers now.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

@FlyingLSimmentals did you raise Simmentals in the beginning? Simmentals are definitely higher % twins. You gotta love them and hate them. Love the extra calf - hate the demand it puts on the dam. She is usually thinner at calving and stays thinner. Can retain placenta (although - knock on wood - I haven't experienced much of that). Harder for them to breed back, etc.
Always nice to have a set of twins when you find a dead newborn!

 

[Chevy]

Looks like a tiny little d shape on her head and a little hair bs. Hahahahaha nevermind. Bahahahahahahahaha. I'd have to name it Dick. Hahahahahaha. Or something of the liking. Ya'll nobody said I was right... but I'm not wrong about that..... Haha.