Twins????

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JDI

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I have a 6yr. old cow that was having her 4th baby..on 2-28-06 she calved having a 70 lb. bull calf...then on 3-6 she shows up in the pasture with the bull & a heifer calf both sucking on her. Anyone ever hear of a cow keeping 1 twin hidden for this lenght of time...seems weird to me!!!
 
could it just be a freeloader? some cows are nondiscriminate (word?)
 
well, I only have 3 other calves in the pasture & 4 more to calve is all. Unless it came from the neighbors?? This cow is a BIG cow (1300 + )so she could have had twins that big...time will tell!!!
 
Maybe Jeanne will be along shortly to tell you all about twins. i rarely have them. they suck. moreso than your average calf.
 
JDI":1373u13u said:
I have a 6yr. old cow that was having her 4th baby..on 2-28-06 she calved having a 70 lb. bull calf...then on 3-6 she shows up in the pasture with the bull & a heifer calf both sucking on her. Anyone ever hear of a cow keeping 1 twin hidden for this lenght of time...seems weird to me!!!

No, anytime we've had twins both calves were right there to be accounted for. There was a post a while back about a cow giving birth to twins a week or so apart, though.
 
sometimes they WILL keep them separated, for whatever reason. they will go back and forth looking after each calf, or either abandon one.
 
Unusual things do happen but if a calf waited 6 more days i would guess that it and the cow would be dead. The endocrine system shouldn't let that happen.
 
We had a big cow have her twins an hour and a half apart. The first born was a 60+ pound bull calf, he was up and going fast, busy little bugger. I went back out 1.5 hrs later and she was just licking off the twin, a 90+ lb heifer, BDS (Big Dumb & Slow), had to help her up, had to help her find the bag, I was less than impressed. Both were fine for a couple days and the cow took care of both but the little bull went looking for an extra snack (we think) and got kicked in the head. :( .
 
Oh yeah, I know - I'm the twin lady :D
It is VERY possible for a cow to carry twins & you not know it by looking at her. And it isn't unusual for them to "store" them away in seperate locations.
My cows would have a hard time hiding one, since they are born in a small individual pen.
Do they "appear" the same age (umbilical cord).? As long as she's taking care of both, enjoy. You have two live calves (bonus), both up & sucking (big plus), weren't tangled up inside of her (major big plus) and evidently she cleaned. Now, can you keep her in good body condition so she breeds back? Remember, she might need suppliment. (oh joy, aren't they cute??)
 
I had a second (and third?) calf cow have twins about a month ago. We kept seeing what looked like the same calf with her until a week later I saw another with identical markings standing in the herd. Never saw the two calves at the same time prior and never suspected she would have twins. Luckily I know some folks that raise twins and orphans and found a taker. BTW, after a week they're kinda hard to catch on foot.
 
don't know if it's urban legend or not but an old farmer swears years ago he had a cow have twins 21 days apart?
 
There was a producer in Saskatchewan, either last spring or spring of '04 that had a cow that calved about a month apart. Vet's said that it is very rare. Cow came into heat twice and got bred both times. There was an article about it in the Western Producer.
 
Thanks everyone for their responses!!! Our problem was we had a heifer calve about 12 hrs. later & she refused her calf. We knew sometimes they will reject 1 & not the other. Thought this other calf might have been her's as all were colored choc. brown & it was kept hidden for so long...we penned all the cattle & seperated the 2 suspected mom's out. The heifer had no interest in the calf & when we caught the baby the mom with the bull calf when ballistic. Turned them all out & she went to both calves & started nursing both...question answered.... Thanks,again
 
JDI":1od1ulbb said:
Thanks everyone for their responses!!! Our problem was we had a heifer calve about 12 hrs. later & she refused her calf. We knew sometimes they will reject 1 & not the other. Thought this other calf might have been her's as all were colored choc. brown & it was kept hidden for so long...we penned all the cattle & seperated the 2 suspected mom's out. The heifer had no interest in the calf & when we caught the baby the mom with the bull calf when ballistic. Turned them all out & she went to both calves & started nursing both...question answered.... Thanks,again

I must still be half asleep, 'cause I can't make heads nor tails outta this......Was the 2nd calf the Heifer's rejected one that the older Mama cow took in? Or did the older Mama cow have twins and keep one hidden for a long time?
 
Yes. TR we were just as confused ourselves at first.... the older cow had twins but kept it hidden for 6 days....in the mean time (12 hr.s after older cow calved) a heifer calved & rejected her calf....lost it but guess god paid us back with the twin....funny part is the old cow rejected her 1st calf 4 yrs. ago....now 1 of the best moma's I got... hope the heifer breeds back & does the same....
 

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