Calving Started with a Bang!

[in-too-deep]

First calver had twins this morning! All three are doing well. Heifer and a bull. Took a snowstorm to make it happen.

 

[Elton Fancher]

I have had twins 2 times. Once they did well but wore the old cow out, second time the cow had the second calf 48 hours after the first and got down. Spent money on the vet but had to shoot her later. Good luck.

 

[JD Seller]

Good luck with the twins. I have only had one set in the forty years I have had brood cows. They were both heifers. Kept them both for replacement heifers and they both did well. They did not have any twins.

 

[quefan]

Approx. 30 years ago Dad's 40 cow herd had 4 sets twins in one year.

 

[Bob Harvey]

Well, not cows, but my second year of raising sheep, every ewe had twins - the next year the same + 2 sets of triplets. It's what you hope for. P.S. they are a LOT easier to wrestle than cows ! ;^)

 

[JMS/.MN]

Really, one set? With the dairy cows (30 years) I had two sets of triplets, I don"t know how many twins...but I"d rather have singles. Twins are hard on a dairy cow. Heifer/bull...about 85% freemartins. My biggest problem with the dairy herd (other than Johne"s) was too high a percentage of bulls. Too many years of 2/3 bulls, hard to keep enough replacement heifers. The combination just did us in. I fought Johne"s for a dozen years.

 

[SVcummins]

I?ve only seen one set of twins in 30 years that was when me and grandpa were still running cows together I?ve not had a set of twins in my own heard ever .

 

[Bruce from Can.]

When I had a all Holstein dairy herd, we had lots of twins, one cow had twins three times in a row, and all 6 where heifers. Raised the twin heifers , and got rid of them. Twins have more twins, and it takes a toll on a cow, and don?t get you more milk, you probably end up with less milk because the recovery time for mama can take longer.
Your black white face cow probably has some Holstein in her background, black white face cows make fantastic mamas. Just tell her next time , make the calves red please.
We only get maybe one set of twins a year now with our Jerseys, with more than 100 calvings per year.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I have never seen a set of triplets, or even known anyone that has had them. Johne?s has been a real plague for the Holstein breed, not that all breeds can?t get infected, but the Holstein breed seems to have it bad. You can now test for it with your milk samples , and cows that show no signs can be carries, and be cut from the herd

 

[centash]

Had a cow that had triplets once......all four died. The only thing worse than twins is triplets.
Ben

 

[cuttman]

Had twins with beef cattle and heifer ended up being a freemartin calf and small stature.

 

[JMS/.MN]

I sold the cows in 2001- we did the blood testing for Johne"s at the time and eventually had only a couple test positive, but we culled a lot of cows. Earlier I kept them too long, needing the milk sales. Impossible to protect against, even birds will carry infected manure from farm to farm, and ingestion by a small amount by a calf is enough to infect her. I have a USDA book from the 40s which describes Johne"s....by the 90s they didn"t know any more about it. Forgotten disease for many years.

 

[JD Seller]

IRC they were thinking that deer was carrying the disease, Johne"s, too. Deer manure in pasture water source and you have it in your herd. I am thinking more along the beef cow angle than milk cows.