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NE Iowa | If the cow claims both and has a good milk supply, we let them raise them, although if another cow loses a calf then we may try to graft a twin over to that cow. We've had a lot of twins over the years, and usually the cows have claimed both. We've also kept twins as replacements - sometimes they have twins themselves, sometimes not, but it definitely is hereditary and they have a better chance of having twins themselves. While I would prefer 1 healthy calf, if a cow has twins and adequate milk, they usually work out OK. We had one cow that had twins 6 times out of her 8 pregnancies, and 5 of the 6 times she raised both twins herself. The other time we had a cow in the same pasture lose her calf the day before, and when that old cow had her twins the next night, the cow who had lost her calf claimed 1 twin and the natural mother claimed the 2nd - both cows were happy. Couldn't have worked out better if we'd done it on purpose. Very lucky. | |
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Twins question?
