weak twin

[DRB]

Heifer had twins..one is weaker than the other..it was able to suck a time or two in the first 12 hours...would i be doing harm if i bottle fed it? it has a hard time competing with it's sibling for milk.... there is enough milk for both but the butting and tussling is to much for the weaker one...

 

[ERIK]

I would bottle feedthe weaker one intill it builds up some good strength. Then you could probally let go back on the mother.

 

[txag]

if the cow is accepting both calves and has enough milk, i wouldn't bottle-feed it.

what i would do is separate both calves from the cow and then only let her in with them a couple of times/day, long enough to nurse & bond a little. let the weaker one in first (maybe for about 5-10 min & then let the other one in too). if your cow is gentle enough & tolerates your presence while they're nursing, work the calves around so they're on opposite sides of the cow & not fighting on the same side.

 

[certherfbeef]

if the cow is accepting both calves and has enough milk, i wouldn't bottle-feed it.

what i would do is separate both calves from the cow and then only let her in with them a couple of times/day, long enough to nurse & bond a little. let the weaker one in first (maybe for about 5-10 min & then let the other one in too). if your cow is gentle enough & tolerates your presence while they're nursing, work the calves around so they're on opposite sides of the cow & not fighting on the same side.

As usual, excellent advise.

 

[DRB]

update on twins...as usual nature is best mother...What i have found out is that the mother is separating the calves...one sleeps while the other walks and sucks it's mother...every time i checked on the calves the same one was resting and, to me, seemed weak...I mixed it some milk, went to it got it on it's feet, but this time it was the "strong" calf, the "weak" one was out sucking it's mother...I looked around to see if anyone was looking, i hope not!

 

[certherfbeef]

...I mixed it some milk, went to it got it on it's feet, but this time it was the "strong" calf, the "weak" one was out sucking it's mother...I looked around to see if anyone was looking, i hope not!

I had a black simmy cross cow one year that drove me nuts. One day I would check on her she was nursing a red baldie the same day that evening she was nursing a black baldie. I was ready to pull my hair out. Finally real late one night I caught her with both calves. Gotta love mamma's like that!!!

 

[Ryan]

I had a black simmy cross cow one year that drove me nuts. One day I would check on her she was nursing a red baldie the same day that evening she was nursing a black baldie. I was ready to pull my hair out. Finally real late one night I caught her with both calves. Gotta love mamma's like that!!!

We had a similar situation. Thought cow had a bull calf, next day went out saw it was a heifer, couple of days later saw it was a bull again...took 5 or 6 days to see she had twins.

 

[DRB]

i know twins are not that rare..but how often can you expect them?

 

[Craig-TX]

I have no idea what the "official stats" are but in my case they are more rare than it would appear to be on these boards. Probably not more than one set per few hundred births over the years. They seem to run in spurts for some reason. Won't think about them for a long time and then you have a set and it seems like half the neighbors are too. Our last time was a fine looking set, one of each sex. The heifer was beautiful but a freemartin so we ate her. The bull was good looking from day one and we kept him, which we rarely do.

Craig-TX

 

[Campground Cattle]

Never had a set so they are real rare here.

 

[Craig-TX]

One time when I was a kid and we were visiting my grandparents my Granddad told me if I hung around the barn and stayed quiet I would be able to see a calf born. He had a milk cow going into labor. I found a comfortable place in the oat bin and peeked out every now and then. I saw her calve but she didn't try to get up for a good while. I was about to go get Granddad when bingo she had another. I couldn't believe it. I still remember being excited about it and how good it made me feel to announce the news to him. It impressed him enough that I got even more excited. She did all the work but I was proud to have witnessed it. Hadn't thought about that in a long time.

Craig-TX

 

[Jake]

we seem to have at least a set a year. we've had a couple cows have multiple sets, seems like they are on a set pattern of having them every 3 or ever 4 years kinda neat really. I always like being able to go out and see a cow toting around two healthy calves.

 

[TheBullLady]

I had a set of twins born the day before yesterday.. and I'm raising the smaller calf. Only because the cow can't raise them both.

When I bought this cow from a friend of mine, she had had one set of twins (they both died at birth) then a single birth. For me she's had one single, and this will be her second set of twins.

I've got a set of twins in the pasture now that so far have only had single births, but I suspect they'll have a set of twins at some point.

 

[samm]

we had our first set of twins at the first of nov. i think the old cow heard us talking about her, cuz last year she lost her calf that she was carrying, and we had said if she don't have a calf this winter shes gone, so she made up for last year,
they are a little small, but doing well, she takes care of them both, but when is the earliest that you can start them on something like calf grower/starter or some suppliment, just to help them along ??
thanks samm

 

[sidney411]

In 4 years we have never had a set of twins, averaging 50 calves a year. I would like to see a set of twins though. We have one cow that I have sworn each year she was going to have twins because she gets absolutely hugh! Her belly is a cows width on each side of her. We have special 'cow gates' and she rubs on both sides as she goies through. Most other cows can walk through with a calf beside them and have room. She is even wider then the bull.

 

[certherfbeef]

2 years ago I was "lucky" enough to have 4 sets of twins on 80 head. 2 pairs were heifers and 2 pairs were bulls. The kids bottle fed just 2 calves. One off each 3 yr old. The old cows (6yrs old) raised both of them. Those heifers will calve in March. I may be in trouble!!!????

 

[Jake]

it probably won't be those heifers that twin but their daughters, seems to skip a generation

 

[TLCfromARK]

I've had one set of twins in the last 7 years or so. My brother has had one set in the same time frame.

Last year he had a old cow take a heifer's first calf away from her. They had both calved at the same time right next to each other. The older cow took both calves, refused to let the heifer anywhere near either calf. The heifer followed them around for a couple of days and then gave up. She bred right back and kept her calf this year. The older cow did a good job on both calves but they did pull her down quite a bit. My brother said she went 13 months between calves and had always been 11 -12 months between other calves.
;-)

 

[milkmaid]

she takes care of them both, but when is the earliest that you can start them on something like calf grower/starter or some suppliment, just to help them along ??

If you have a feeder that you can adjust so only the calves can reach the grain, I'd start introducing them to grain now. I have four calves on a nurse cow who have been nibbling on grain and hay since they were a week old. The oldest ones are just a little over three weeks now, and they're beginning to eat quite a bit of grain.

My neighbor has had two sets of twins in the past six months. Both within a month of each other.