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Twins

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How many live calves have you gotten from those twelve sets? I used to say if I got ten live calves out of ten sets of twins I was doing good. The last few years my luck has changed for the better though. Some breeds sure seem to twin at a higher rate then others. Simmental and Gelbvieh both throw alot of twins. In the spring it gets so I hate to see twins. More work for me. Plus having twins ruins alot of good cows making it harder to get them to breed back.
 
No sets so far, and that is just fine by me. They're just extra work as far as I'm concerned, would much rather just have one live, healthy calf. Alot less stress on the cow, too. As far as I figure it, 10% of your cows have had twins. That seems a might high. Must be just your year for it. Do you have more cows to calve out still?
 
Of those 12 sets, one full set lost (too early) and lost one from each of three other sets. There are still about 675 to go. Maybe just all the twinkies are coming in first, so it seems high. Dunno :???:
 
Last year we had two sets hit the ground at the same time. That night another set and then the following day another set. After that no more and we still had three forths to calve yet.
 
Hi everyone,

I'm another Montanan thats been reading posts the last month or so but haven't written much. I have a 600 cow ranch, I think I'm about 100 west of Old Timer. North Central MT. Especially like the rancher part of the bull session. Anyway enjoy all your insights into the ranching business. Although I'm not exactly a greenhorn myself as I've been calving cattle for 30 years, more than I care to remember sometimes. Anyway thanks for your time, you seem like a real great bunch people. Its always been my experience that you tend to get twins early in the calving season, maybe has to do with shorter gestation period, or cows just get tired of packing 2 around. lol A couple years ago we had 6 sets of twins out of the first 25 heifers, angus breeding. Most of the time I like twins as I usually have an extra cow that lost her calf for no reason of her own.
 
One time a vet told me that if you are feeding corn silage from corn that had a lot of smut, it affects the hormones and generates more twins from the cow producing another egg....


PPRM
 
Welcome, mtrancher. WARNING: This place is addicting. We are kind
of our own little 'family' here.

Faster Horses,
I've wondered how you all manage to get the chores done at home!!
Must have a set of priorities and this seems to be near the top of the list. :p :wink: Lot worse things a person could do in their spare time.
Glad to be here!!
 
mtrancher said:
Welcome, mtrancher. WARNING: This place is addicting. We are kind
of our own little 'family' here.

Faster Horses,
I've wondered how you all manage to get the chores done at home!!
Must have a set of priorities and this seems to be near the top of the list. :p :wink: Lot worse things a person could do in their spare time.
Glad to be here!!
Click to expand...

You just have to schedule your priorities :wink: But sometimes it does beat a drive to town to the coffee shop when you can just jump on here and antagonize someone...Seems like you can always stir up something..And I like my own coffee better than some of that restaurant stuff...

I won't be here tomorrow after noon-- They're having a big bred cow sale at Glasgow Stockyards I want to take in...I'm sure I won't be able to afford anything-- as even the 14? year old bred oldtimers I sold last week brought $650 (they came from a fellow in your area (Malta)- I bought them as shortermermers 3 calves ago for $385) --but I want to check it out...Probably be quite a crew at the local waterhole afterward too :D ....

Like FH said- welcome to the board.....
 
righter said:
Of those 12 sets, one full set lost (too early) and lost one from each of three other sets. There are still about 675 to go. Maybe just all the twinkies are coming in first, so it seems high. Dunno :???:
Click to expand...
Twins generally have a shorter gestation (lack of room?) so you'll get more of them earlier on, as a rule. Mother natures way of making you work just a little harder. :wink:
 
Welcome - -mtrancher! :) AS for twins-last spring has 7or 8 set all with both surviving and unassisted. Yes,i get discussed with twins(especially since I am the one that feeds them),but come to think of it theses were in the first part of calving and had extra calves to graft. This fall at weaning, the grafted twins were pretty much the same weight as the other calves.This fall we had 6 sets of twins (that I know of) used a couple for grafting ,a couple cows have both calves and a one calf from two sets did not make it. But this fall,most of the sets were in the last part of calving. We are calving heifers now and cows start any day now,but the weather is perfect even tho we all need moisture.
 
Twins!

If you have read this much you will know I love twins. I do treat them differently and I have a small herd. Out of 32 cows last year I had 4 sets of twins and all thrived ( notice I did not say survived).

I feel the better minerals we have available are a direct influance on the twining. I turn the cows with twins in with the first calf hiefers as I give them a creep feeder and the best pastures and about 2# per day of sweet feed.

Yes these cows cost a little more to feed than the rest but not not nearly as much as feeding another cow.
 
welcome mtrancher,

We have Gelbvieh/Angus mother cows. We've experienced many sets of twins - 8-12 out of 350 cows for years. They usually come first, we know when the AI ends and the bull breds start when we have twins in the middle of calving. We purchased a Jersey and a Holstein a long time ago, we've bred them to Jersey and Angus, I make sure they are exposed either AI or to a bull early so when they calve we bring them in, keep them in a pen and when a set of twins is born and the mom has decided which one to keep, we grab the other one and put it in the pen with the nurse cows. Works great, it's like a happy commune, cows let any calf nurse on them (including their own) my only chore is to drop a round bale in their feeder when empty and I feed them extra cake every day. Bottle feeding calves is the absolute pits! If a cow loses her calf, I grab one out of the nurse cow pen and put it on her. Currently I have 3 nurse cows feeding 6 calves and they are growing well.
 
Well some of the folks buying these bred cows today better hope they all have twins and they both live....Didn't quite see $1600 cows, but 3 year olds sold for $1570-- Bred heifers all in the $1400-$1500 range- 12 year old shorttermers all selling for $900+.....

Definitely an optomistic market.......
 
Faster horses said:
The rancher that bought our heifer calves last year, the ones you missed brand inspecting out of Nashua, OT, sold at Dickinson, Dec. 29. He topped the market with them at $1600.

Things are hot, there is no doubt!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Good for you- and for him :D :D
 
Hey, George and yantaho,
Most of these cows are keeping and raising both twins, there has been one go to bottle (not me, thank goodness :!: ) and a couple were grafted. Would like to have nurse cows, but it appears that is not to be on this place. And as is, we haven't needed them, luckily.
 
Faster horses said:
The rancher that bought our heifer calves last year, the ones you missed brand inspecting out of Nashua, OT, sold at Dickinson, Dec. 29. He topped the market with them at $1600.

Things are hot, there is no doubt!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Congrats to you both FH....

Cheers to a Broncos win!!!

TTB :wink:
 
righter said:
Hey, George and yantaho,
Most of these cows are keeping and raising both twins, there has been one go to bottle (not me, thank goodness :!: ) and a couple were grafted. Would like to have nurse cows, but it appears that is not to be on this place. And as is, we haven't needed them, luckily.
Click to expand...


Good for you, hopefully you won't always have lots of twins. We like them, makes out calving percentage look pretty good :wink: , especially if it's over 100% :wink:
 

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