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raising twins

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caljane

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What is your take on leaving both twins on a cow? We raise Angus/cross cows, on grass all year round with hay/cake supplement during the winter. We had a set of twins and I forced the ranch hand to get a cow in that lost her calve two days before and draft one of the twins to this cow. It worked, but I had a heck of a time to convince the ranch hand to split the twins up.
Do you raise two calves on one cow, without the possibility to supplement this cow for the next several month?
 
We have never left twins on a range cow for very long. I am too soft-hearted. I worry about the calves getting enough and the cow giving so much of herself that she might not breed back. One calf for a range cow is plenty IMO.
Even with creep-feed, they still suck the cow and pull her down. Take care of the factory, I say. :)
 
At my place if the stars all align she will raise them both. But like so many of us know you will some how need the extra calf for one reason or another.
I have been working with a kid that will raise the bottle calf run them as yearlings and then sell them he gives me my cut right off the top and he uses the rest to build his operation. This has worked out great for both parties involved, I don't have to bottle feed a calf and he uses the money for going to FFA and 4H projects etc etc. And how can you not want to help a kid out that likes to work.
 
We've tried leaving twins on a cow different times in the past if she was a great milker but it takes a special kind of cow to keep both calves looked together on the range all summer. One generally ends up getting orphaned. Even if you do pull it off it's hard on the cow. Doesn't seem to matter how great her food supply is, it's a lot to ask of their system to raise two calves and breed back on time.
So far this year we have sold 10 twin calves to some young (8 & 10 yr old) home schooled kids who make a good little business of this venture. We give them a heck of a deal because we like to see kids show that kind of drive. It's good for us because 10 bottle calves is a handful. It's good for the calves left on the cow because they will be a full calf in the fall. And of course it's good for the cow because she will be in good shape in the fall and likely breed back.
Everyone is, as Phil Robertson says, happy happy happy :)
 
I do not have ranges - - - I have all my pastures cross fenced into 5 to 6 acre lots with plenty of grass and water close so twins work great here - - - I do believe in your conditions twins might not be the best.

Way more cattle are raised in your conditions than mine so it is probably best to split them up for you.

One more reason I like living where I do! My cows probably would have a hard time adjusting to your conditions but they work well for me here!
 
We had a cow calve on a -30 below morning while still feeding out. That calf of course froze. A week later we had a set of twins and I caught up the cow that calved earlier and grafted the extra on her. 2 cc's of ace and a good soaking of o-no more and 2 times in the chute it was a match made in heaven thank goodness the cow is a handful to say the least. She kicked me in the chest when I was beside her in the calveing chute stripping out some milk. We've had a couple cows raise twins in 20 years
 
I had a cow raise twins two year ago and she got along just fine in a medium-sized buffalo grass pasture. Twin heifers were not huge at weaning but she had two calves to show for it and that paid better than one big one! It's good to have a few twins now and then if you have a larger number of cows. Need to have one to graft onto another problem sometimes.

I have a question. If a cow raises twins then how do those twins pull the cow down? Does she actually produce any more or less milk with two calves sucking her compared to one? If she's staying sucked down does her body react by producing more milk? I had never really thought of it before.
 
Hey, everybody sure clammed up. Nobody wants to take a shot at my question? I'm truly interested to know if a cow actually milks more with twins on her. How else would twins "draw a cow down" so to speak?
 
I really don't know if she milks more but I suspect she does as the ones I have had raising twins have provided enough for both and in most cases they were almost the same size at weaning as the other calves.

I only have a problem the first few days when she has trouble keeping both with her - - - in small lots this is not to bad but in large areas I could see calves getting lost.
 
Here are my thoughts on raising twins on their mother in a range situation. In Mt, due to wind and cold winters, we have a hard time meeting the nutrient requirements of cows without calves on their side. It's even harder when they are milking, so to answer your question, the cow will not produce any more milk than her genetic makeup will allow. Twins will pull her down because all her nutrients are going to the milk factory to try to stay ahead of the demand and not to her, this is why most producers will bum one of the calves. Cheaper to feed the bum than have an open cow. Now in more of a confinement operation with plenty of feed, this might not apply,
 
Dairy cows produce more milk when milked three times a day compared to two. So two calves sucking one cow take more milk more often and she will produce more, which makes her body work harder.
 
aspen said:
Dairy cows produce more milk when milked three times a day compared to two. So two calves sucking one cow take more milk more often and she will produce more, which makes her body work harder.
Click to expand...

Which is a real good reason cows bags tend to go pot a lot sooner raising twins. If you want your cow to last for years to come and continue to raise quality calves it's simply just best for her to raise just one. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :nod:
 
aspen said:
Dairy cows produce more milk when milked three times a day compared to two. So two calves sucking one cow take more milk more often and she will produce more, which makes her body work harder.
Click to expand...

I think this answers it fairly well. Thanks!
 
The observable gain in milk production by milking 3X per day vs 2X per day is only 10-18%. Even when milked 3X if a cow is not fed compensatorily, she will revert back to the 2X amount over time.

When we have twins, they are separated from the rest of the herd & moved to another pasture with access to more forage and pretty much double their income. I would love to have 100 sets of twins every year. After a few weeks, the calves are foraging for themselves and using the milk as a supplement anyway.
 
Mike said:
The observable gain in milk production by milking 3X per day vs 2X per day is only 10-18%. Even when milked 3X if a cow is not fed compensatorily, she will revert back to the 2X amount over time.

When we have twins, they are separated from the rest of the herd & moved to another pasture with access to more forage and pretty much double their income. I would love to have 100 sets of twins every year. After a few weeks, the calves are foraging for themselves and using the milk as a supplement anyway.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Occasionally one or both are born dead, is the biggest downside. But have a few sets running together, and give the cows a little grain to supplement, and it kind of turns into a socialist orgy, with twins robbing and sucking every cow. :lol:
 
aspen said:
Dairy cows produce more milk when milked three times a day compared to two. So two calves sucking one cow take more milk more often and she will produce more, which makes her body work harder.
Click to expand...

That makes sense to me!
 

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