We had twins!

In cows, twins are a relatively rare and also slightly scary scenario (not too dissimilar to the human condition, right?), well… while there are some parallels, there are also some pretty unique aspects to bovine twins.

For cows, the twin gene is passed down almost exclusively from the bull - the female twin is almost always sterile (90-95% of the time) having been affected in utero by the hormones of her brother - thus leaving the bull calves to pass on the trait. Once a cow has proven to have the twin gene, it is likely that she will have twins again.

This summer, we experienced our first set of twins born on Hood Family Farm. We had seen the twins right after birth, and the calves and mom seemed to be doing alright. When we went back to check after a couple of hours, the bull calf (we’d named them Andy and Angie) was nowhere to be found. Now as many of you may know, the colostrum produced by the mother right at birth is of the utmost importance to the calves health. With Andy being missing so soon after birth, we were very afraid that he may not have not have gotten any.

Cows are known for bedding down their calves in a nest of grass that can make them almost invisible until you nearly step on them, so we fanned out and searched and searched. We couldn’t see anything, or hear anything (the cows and calves often call to one another), and were getting very worried. We went out once more after dark to try again, but sadly no luck. That was a very worrisome night, indeed.

We went out again at first light and while driving through the fields, we spotted a little white spot a full three fields away from the paddock where the cows were. On closer inspection, it was our missing Andy, and he was alive! We immediately took him over to where he rejoined his mother and sister and began to nurse.

Twins translate to lots of milk needed. Andy looked to be thriving at Angie’s expense early on, but both seemed to be gaining strength and weight. Yay!

Two months after they were born, the tables had turned - Angie was clearly thriving at Andy’s expense. We watched Andy closely to see if he would keep up, but he did not. We finally intervened, but he was just not robust (remember the missed colostrum). Even with feedings about every 3 hours - he had a hard time suckling, which made feedings very hard. He just wasted away.

Technically, Andy’s mother fulfilled her responsibility of producing a calf for us. It still hurts every time it does not work out for an animal, especially when you’re trying to save a baby.

So, what could we have done to change the outcome? We have thought about that answer and have some ideas from earlier intervention to force feeding commercial colostrum as early as possible. What do you think? Have you ever had this challenge yourself? What did you do? How did it work out? Let us hear from you in the comments. We are always ready to learn.

Have a great day indeed!

Robin Hood