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question about twins

B

Bunyan

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Feb 5, 2009
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Ontario
New guy and like the site . Have a question of the reproductive nature for someone smarter than myself . Currently have 31 cows calved with 4 set of twins . Still have 110 to go . What are the possible causes of this high incidence of twins . We feed a TMR mix with all trace minerals and vitamins twice per day . Too much of one mineral ? vitamin ? Vet said sometimes it has to do with the bull . Never heard this before . Any ideas ? Thanks for any input .
Paul
( at this rate we could end up with 16 or 17 sets of twins )
 
If your cows have too many sets of twins or triplets the neighbors might start asking questions :wink: :D :D
welcome to the sight
 
Thats a good question, a couple years ago I had 5 sets of twins out of 250 hd. The good thing was I still had 100% calf crop along with the twins. Then I sold some of them for replacement calves for a friend of mine. Then last year I never had one.

Has anyone ever had triplets or heard of them before. I know a guy that had a cow have triplets last year. He lost all of them which I guess you could understand why!!
 
Richard Doolittle said:
Good luck finding a real answer. My guess is that the twinning will slow way down as you progress because they usually come a little early.
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Yep nutrition and genetics-- I hate twins- usually end up being a pain in the butt with mother walking away or not accepting one...Big Muddy is right with the continentals being more apt to twin- but I've also seen the red angus more apt than the blacks and the herefords...Neighbors running red angus bulls were getting 15-20 sets last year- and working their rear ends off.. And around here- the red baby calves bring a lot less than the black ones at the salesring during calving season....
I won't buy a bull/heifer that is a twin- because I don't want those pain in the rear genetics....
 
If they are identical the bull's genetics could have caused the occurrence. If they are fraternal the cow is responsible. Good luck determining the cause in that case. Probably just something in the water. Some years we can have half a dozen or more and other years we won't have a single set.

If you have cows that consistently give you twins, especially fraternal twins, I would sell her. It takes about five minutes for the novelty to wear off for me and then I am thinking, "Aw crap what am I going to do with another bottle calf." I don't lose enough with summer calving to use up my twins most years.
 
simmental definately have a higher twinning rate.as a purebred breeder i have experienced 3 sets in one year on 20 cows .last year i had 2 sets on 18 cows.we had 3 sets out of the commercial cows(125)it definately helps the bottom line.i have one pb cow an L who has had all twins except one .the best way too raise them is too let the cow do it by pouring the feed to her and keeping her condition up.
 
miocene said:
simmental definately have a higher twinning rate.as a purebred breeder i have experienced 3 sets in one year on 20 cows .last year i had 2 sets on 18 cows.we had 3 sets out of the commercial cows(125)it definately helps the bottom line.i have one pb cow an L who has had all twins except one .the best way too raise them is too let the cow do it by pouring the feed to her and keeping her condition up.[/quote

Calved out 300 head of semmental a few yrs back and i think we had 8 sets of twins and of course as mentioned by some one before they were mostly at the beginning of calving season. Baby calves that yr were selling for about 500 bucks apiece so almost one of each pair got sold..Most of the twin calves were weighing in at about 80 to 85 lbs.
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tenbach79 said:
Has anyone ever had triplets or heard of them before. I know a guy that had a cow have triplets last year. He lost all of them which I guess you could understand why!!
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I had a cow have triplets quite a few years back,the first calf born was a breech and by the time i got the whole mess figured out because of all the legs,they all died
 
My theory on the subject is, at the time of conception the cows are being fed a high level of nutrition and gaining weight .This is causing a higher number than usual to release multiple eggs at the time of ovulation and the result is multiple births.When I was at the dairy ,it seemed as if we would get a lot of twins in the summer months. those cows would have been bred in the fall after all the new feed was harvested.Having twins along with the stress of the heat would take quite a toll on those cows.By the time they were back in shape to breed back was about time time the harvest was finished. Those cows always seemed to have a high incidence of having twins again.
 
Reasons for twins:



***Shite happens!!!

**It ain't your lucky day!!!

*Someone cursed you...better find out who and why :lol:



I'm like the rest here, twins, the whole 2 for the money 'idea' sounds great till you end up with a barn full of bottle babies or war with a nurse cow.


I dread'em...but I've surely had my fair share.
 
Had white shorhorn, cow twins every year. She calved outside and raised them both every year. Kept one of her daughters who had twins one year. Happen to be there at the time and needed a calf for a heifer that had lost one during the night. Grabbed the calf about as fast as it hit the ground and hauled it to the corral to start the mothering up process. That night at chore time guess who was down there bawling through several pens wanting her second baby. Gave it back to her. All others I've had are more trouble than they are worth. Cow takes one and the other is out of luck.
 
We had 5 cows raise their own twins last year. Fed the heck out of the mamas until grass time and kept them at home in the pasture so nobody got misplaced. The calves are all in the average of the bunch and the cows all bred back.
 
We've been as high as 10% twinning rate, but we always have some twins every year. Unlike everyone else, we don't mind them at all. The biggest problem we see is that sometimes they get tangled up during birthing, so you've got to keep an eye out. It's nice to have a spare calf around if someone else has a mishap. We will not bring in an outside calf for a cow who loses hers, so a twin is the only lifeline she has.

We had a cow once who had twins first time around. Being a heifer, we felt sorry for her and gave one calf to another cow. Sure enough, the next year she had twins again! We figured she was going to twin herself to death, so we left them on her hoping that would slow her down a bit. Third time around she had a single. So by the time this cow had her fourth birthday, she had produced five live calves. That's not a bad thing. :wink:

So far this year we have had one set of twins out of the first six cows calved. Could be one of those years again! This particular cow needs to be named Lucky though. Just after Christmas we found her down on the ice. I guess she got shoved at the water bowl, slipped, and got on her side in a hole. She spent the night on glare ice at minus 30, and wasn't looking too good in the morning. Hubby was ready to give up on her, but we moved her over a bit, piled a bunch of straw around her, gave her some warm water to drink, and gave her some time. In the afternoon, she stood up. Once she was solid on her feet we took her up to the yard where life is a bit easier and within a week she was back with the herd. Yesterday morning she had a healthy set of twin heifers, unassisted. She was worth the effort.

We've never had a problem with cows not being able to feed twins, but if it's a heifer or a really old girl we'll give her a break and take one calf. Besides, if we end up with a pailfed, it's mine, and the proceeds go to whatever I like. And as Martha Stewart says, "That's a good thing." :D :D :D :D
 
I HAVE SIMILAR EXPERIENCES AS YOU KATO.TWINS ARE NO BIG DEAL. THEY DO HELP OUT WITH THE DRY COW SITUATION.I HAVE FOUND THAT IF YOU DO NOT FIND A MOM FOR THE EXTRA CALF WITHIN A WEEK YOU BETTER LEAVE THEM AS A UNIT (IF THE COW CAN HANDLE THE XTRA WORK LOAD
 
I love twins - - - -I guess it is due to the easy life my cows have they never seem to be a problem - - - - the twin calves never top the scales at sale time but they are right in the middle and with two I sure get more pounds of calf per cow.

I don't start calving till the end of march and the cows are getting grass by then as well as full time access to good hay and mineral. I even had a hiefer with twins last year and she still raised both well.

I love having a 110% calving rate!

If any of you have some good angus cows giving you a problem with twins I will make room for them. If one of my cows that has a history of twins has a single hiefer you can bet it stays here! I have been afraid to keep twin hiefers as I have been told they will normally have problems - - - -probably just an old wives tale.
 
George said:
I love twins - - - -I guess it is due to the easy life my cows have they never seem to be a problem - - - - the twin calves never top the scales at sale time but they are right in the middle and with two I sure get more pounds of calf per cow.

I don't start calving till the end of march and the cows are getting grass by then as well as full time access to good hay and mineral. I even had a hiefer with twins last year and she still raised both well.

I love having a 110% calving rate!

If any of you have some good angus cows giving you a problem with twins I will make room for them. If one of my cows that has a history of twins has a single hiefer you can bet it stays here! I have been afraid to keep twin hiefers as I have been told they will normally have problems - - - -probably just an old wives tale.
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If both twins are heifers, they are probably fertile. The problem comes with a heifer calf that has a bull calf as her twin mate. The heifer is then called a "free martin" and there is about an 85% chance she will not be capable of reproducing. The bull mate should be normal.
 
We don't mind twins either, don't get all that many, and usually not when we need them :? One year had 4 or five sets, kept them home in a pasture by the road...always wondered if anyone noticed the cow to calf ratio.
 

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