Twins

[ia girl]

Had a second calver have twins yesterday.  She loves them both but will not have the milk supply for two.  How soon do you take one away??  Heifer and a bull calf.

 

[diamonddls]

In my experience once they have both had moms colostrum you can pick the smaller one or less wanted one off. Be sure to get colustrum in both though. The sooner you can get the extra calf on a bottle or nurse cow the easier it is to get them started. Good luck

 

[ia girl]

Is it silly to bottle both of them and leave them with momma??  it is a situation I could deal with if it works, or is it just better to take one away from her?

 

[shortybreeder]

It would probably be better to just take one off her as long as you know she can raise one. Like diamond said, take the smaller one off. Studies have shown that with twins, the smaller ones tend to do better on bottles while the bigger ones tend to do better on momma.

 

[ia girl]

Thank you.

 

[Dozer45]

I would pull the heifer because shes probably a freemartin and wont be worth as much down the line anyway

 

[shortybreeder]

I would pull the heifer because shes probably a freemartin and wont be worth as much down the line anyway

Hopefully that will be the smaller one. If they are clubby bred then she should at least be worth something as a market heifer, right? I've never had a beef freemartin (limited experience, not luck) so idk how they sell as show calves.

 

[ia girl]

Calves are sired by an Ace of Diamonds son and mom out of Monopoly and angus

 

[firesweepranch]

Or, you could let her raise them both. Here is a pic I took this morning. This cow has twinned three years in a row, and has raised two sets (one set we lost). These heifer calves are almost 6 months old, on NO creep, and growing great. I bet they EACH weigh 550. The cow usually weighs in at 1400 pounds, or a little less. She is a Summer Sister granddaughter, and the heifer calves are sired by our Steel Force bull we showed and sold last year.
We put an embryo in her this year, to give her a year off from raising two! These heifers were born in November (right after we got home from the Royal) and her next calf is due in October, the first week if I remember correctly.