ultra sound and twins

[Dsth]

this was my first year to preg check using ultra sound. had two cows confirmed out of sixteen with twins. the vet said one had two good fetuses growing and both looked to be a good pregnancy for both calves. She was due December 14 and I watched her as close as I could since she had lost a set of twins the last time she had a calf. she finally had her calf on December 23 and only one bigger than average calf. the second cow had one smaller calf and fluid looked cloudy. the vet said she would probable absorb the smaller calf. She was due December 28 and finally had her calf January 10. also bigger than my average calf size. Sorry but I do not weigh my calves. My questions for the CT family is if the late calving is related to absorbing one of the twins and how late in pregnancy will a cow absorb one of the twins. these cows were preg checked 70 - 45 days. I AI everything so I know their due dates. very seldom do I have cows go past 5 days of their due date.

 

[LJCB]

No idea on the late calving part but I know ultra sound isn't a exact science. It really differs between vet to vet in my experience.

My guess is that the twin is absorbed early in the process. I have a couple with twins coming also due in March

 

[Redgully]

Not sure either on the point where it could or couldn't be absorbed but i do know it is fairly common to ultrasound twins, or even triplets, but only have a single calf. Did you sex the calves? I know my vet will but many won't. So far he has been 100% but on very small numbers so far. I have two embryos and he has sexed one male and one female, really hoping he got the make wrong.

 

[Dsth]

. Did you sex the calves? I know my vet will but many won't. So far he has been 100% but on very small numbers so far.

the vet will sex the calves if I wanted, but I like the surprise when I see the calf on the ground. wife and I did not sex our kids either for the same reason.

 

[Dsth]

No idea on the late calving part but I know ultra sound isn't a exact science. It really differs between vet to vet in my experience.

My guess is that the twin is absorbed early in the process. I have a couple with twins coming also due in March

Good luck with your twins. Ultra sounded this year because I have lost too many calves related to cows having twins in the past. Much rather have one nice health calf

 

[Redgully]

. Did you sex the calves? I know my vet will but many won't. So far he has been 100% but on very small numbers so far.

the vet will sex the calves if I wanted, but I like the surprise when I see the calf on the ground. wife and I did not sex our kids either for the same reason.

I know where you are coming from, we didn't find out the sex of our kids either. With cattle, especially first calf heifers, i like to know to keep an extra eye on them during calving. With bull calves being a little bigger they get a little more attention and i may intervene sooner if i feel its taking too long than i would if i know its a heifer calf. Just an extra tool.

 

[VaCowman]

I find this rather interesting. I have had the vet out to ultrasound our small herd for the last 6-7 years. They have called twins 2X via ultrasound. Both times, the cows had a single live calf. I'm not complaining, I LOATHE bottle feeding... The twist is that I've had 3 sets of twins in the last 2 years, and the vet missed all of them, called them singles. I'm sure it's easily done, I'm not knocking the vet here. I mean, you go in, find a calf, call it, and move to the next. As rare as twins are, unless it's within the field of view, why spend time looking for another calf. I just think that it is interesting that twins have been seen via ultrasound, appear healthy, and then cow has a single live calf. (best case scenario in my book) I'm curious how many of the momma cows out there have two calves early on and then lose one or the other before calving. Could answer a lot of questions about barren heifers that just will not breed or seem to cycle. Maybe they were a twin early on? Nature is pretty cool.

 

[LJCB]

No idea on the late calving part but I know ultra sound isn't a exact science. It really differs between vet to vet in my experience.

My guess is that the twin is absorbed early in the process. I have a couple with twins coming also due in March

Good luck with your twins. Ultra sounded this year because I have lost too many calves related to cows having twins in the past. Much rather have one nice health calf

We haven't had a set of twins in along time. We have been ultra sounding the past 5 years and this is the first one he's called.

 

[LJCB]

I find this rather interesting. I have had the vet out to ultrasound our small herd for the last 6-7 years. They have called twins 2X via ultrasound. Both times, the cows had a single live calf. I'm not complaining, I LOATHE bottle feeding... The twist is that I've had 3 sets of twins in the last 2 years, and the vet missed all of them, called them singles. I'm sure it's easily done, I'm not knocking the vet here. I mean, you go in, find a calf, call it, and move to the next. As rare as twins are, unless it's within the field of view, why spend time looking for another calf. I just think that it is interesting that twins have been seen via ultrasound, appear healthy, and then cow has a single live calf. (best case scenario in my book) I'm curious how many of the momma cows out there have two calves early on and then lose one or the other before calving. Could answer a lot of questions about barren heifers that just will not breed or seem to cycle. Maybe they were a twin early on? Nature is pretty cool.

How many days along are you ultra sounding? For me I'm usually late to preg check at 120 days and you can't sex many of them unless they get lucky with the position .
Your point about the heifers is pretty interesting!

 

[VaCowman]

We try to hit it around d90-95. The vet prefers 90, but on occasion we've had to push it to 100. After 95-100d, the calf is usually big enough it has dropped far enough over the pelvis that they are hard to get to. If they take a nose dive, it's easier than if they are head up. Usually at 90-95d, we can get fetal sex on all of our pregnant cows. Our vet is EXTREMELY good at sexing. In the last 5 years, I bet she has only missed 2 at my place. One was in our favor, the other was not, but we got a live calf and that's all that matters. Some folks question why we even bother with sexing, but I feel pretty confident in the vets ability to sex the calves at 90d, and it really is of benefit to me to know how many potential replacements we have coming. If we are heavy on heifers, we can be increasingly critical on the heifers currently in the replacement pen. If we are heavy on bulls, maybe some get through to the breeding pen that might not have if the coming crop wasn't as heavy with replacements. We also sell bred heifers, so we can kind of figure in having a few more of those to sell and budget/plan accordingly.

 

[LJCB]

We try to hit it around d90-95. The vet prefers 90, but on occasion we've had to push it to 100. After 95-100d, the calf is usually big enough it has dropped far enough over the pelvis that they are hard to get to. If they take a nose dive, it's easier than if they are head up. Usually at 90-95d, we can get fetal sex on all of our pregnant cows. Our vet is EXTREMELY good at sexing. In the last 5 years, I bet she has only missed 2 at my place. One was in our favor, the other was not, but we got a live calf and that's all that matters. Some folks question why we even bother with sexing, but I feel pretty confident in the vets ability to sex the calves at 90d, and it really is of benefit to me to know how many potential replacements we have coming. If we are heavy on heifers, we can be increasingly critical on the heifers currently in the replacement pen. If we are heavy on bulls, maybe some get through to the breeding pen that might not have if the coming crop wasn't as heavy with replacements. We also sell bred heifers, so we can kind of figure in having a few more of those to sell and budget/plan accordingly.

Yeah I like the ability to know as much information as we can.