Caring for twins and Momma cow!

[Show Heifer]

Had a set of twins (or is that a pair of twins???) anyway, I have two calves from one cow! 
She is a 4 year old angus cow, the calves weighed 74 and 85 pounds. WOW
She is in good shape even after calving (body score of 5.5)....but am wondering how much extra does she need to keep both calves full and healthy? I do plan on early weaning one of them roughly in June/July. Unless I am advised to do differently.
She is a 6.5 frame and out of Neutron 377 if that matters!

Thanks everyone.....never had twins before...

 

[knabe]

one of my cows had twins as well.  she is a heavy milking midas daughter.  i'm a novice, but this is what i did, do.  put her and calves in pen by themselves so mom would take both, that is if you want her to take both.  she gets a little extra alfalfa in addition to all the free hay and pasture she wants, some chelated amino acids, supposedly to help with internal healing and sloughing, and a couple handfuls of grain in the pm for sympathy.  been a month, babies are doing fine growing, running around etc.  they were both 68 lbs.

 

[cowz]

Sounds like good advice so far!  We usually have several sets a year.  My 2 cents would be to give a small amount of grain if she starts to lose body condition.  Usually the problem we have is making entirely sure she will care for both.  It seems they always have a favorite.  If the non-favorite is not an aggressive calf, then a lot more attention needs to be paid.  Twins are always a double blessing or double trouble!!! ;D

 

[Show Heifer]

So far the momma cow LOVES them both....moo's at each of them, nudges them etc.
But I noticed she hasn't completely cleaned yet (just 20 hours later), but did drop some of the afterbirth.
She is penned seperate in a big pen, get 1 bale alfalfa X grass hay, and about 2 gallons of corn/gluten mix.
Thanks everyone, I will keep ya posted!

 

[Joe Boy]

I had 3 sets of twins two years ago.....might have been an omen of the drought to come...

I put them in a large run with their mother and fed her grain, 20% cattle cubes and both alfalfa and coast hay.  I did this for a little over a month and then we had some really great wheat pasture and turned them out. 

Our holstein/charlotte who was 14 at the time had a 90 lb heifer and 105 bull.  The Lemosin had two heifers that weighed 72 and 74 lbs.  The Red Brangus had a bull that weighed 75 and a heifer that weighed 67.  None of them were in our registered programs and we sold the calves on the open market.  I joked to people that I had a prayer meeting with the rest of the cow herd asking them to raise 1100-1200 dollars of calves.  I would take 34,000 out of 30 cows every year....

Best wishes.

 

[red]

Show hef, great job! We've had several sets of twins here. Usually just watch mom to make sure she's getting enough to eat & doesn't loose condition too fast.
make sure both are nursing well. Sometimes she will only nurse one. That's the biggest problem w/ twins that I've seen. It also takes them longer to clean out & come back into heat from my experiences.
Hope they are both of the same sex! Hate freemartin heifers born to a twin!

Red

 

[DL]

Cows milk the most for the first 4 to 6 weeks after the calves are born. Another thing to think about is that mothers with twins in utero have much less rumen capacity  - so they may not have met their caloric needs in late pregnancy - ie if we are feeding only hay they many not be able to eat enough simply from a space point of view -- what I do with momma of my twins is supplement from the get go with grain - it is real easy to get behind (ie lose too much condition) and then real hard to catch up later. I would estimate 4 to 8 pounds of corn/soy bean based mixture - if the pasture is fabulous and lush then I will delete the supplement, if it is like now (nothing) I will continue it. I also use Crystalyx Brigade - for a mineral/protein supplement. I wean all my calves in late Aug -early Sept and haven't pulled one calf off before the other. I will creep the calves - I think it helps the mother stay in condition. My twins wean at between 1400 and 1500 lbs. You want the mother to end up in good enough condition so that re breeding is not an issue. Retained placenta is pretty common with twins. Unless the cow is not well I leave them alone for 2 weeks or so - people seem to get real possessed with RPs - giving lutalyse and antibiotics and Lord knows what else all if the placenta doesn't drop with in 24 hours - lutalyse won't do a thing (no CL) except make Pfizer money at this time and there needs to be some action of bacteria to detach the placenta (sorry I digress)

congrats on your twins SH - did you tell us what they are sex wise? We have sun, cool, Sabres lost in OT but played well (6 points in 4 on the road games) (cow) - life is good

 

[Show Heifer]

One bull, one heifer. Beaver and Squirrel respectively!!!
She has not cleaned yet totally....but that leads to another question.....I could have sworn I saw some afterbirth in the lot where she had them....yet she still has some hanging....So am wondering did that mean there were TWO placentas and therefore the heifer may be breedable? Or did the placenta just tear and the heifer might be a free martin?
The cow is getting 8 pounds of corn/gluten/oats/soybean hulls morning and night, and all the alfalfa/grass hay she wants from small square bales (Excellent hay) The calves just run and play, and nurse a lot!!! But seem happy. The cow looks tired....but enjoys the extra feed!
Maybe I'll get my camera out and try to post a pic!

 

[knabe]

was out moving a hose in my pasture and let the cows out and they saw it for the first time.  the twins were running full tilt, saw the hose and jumped straight up in the air like a sprinkbock.  they ran back and forth over the hose like it was fun.  funny to see them keep their nose as close to the ground as possible going over full speed and jumping high.

 

[red]

Knabe, I love when they bounce like that! we've been so wet here can't turn anything out. The calves love to romp when it's nice. Makes you feel like you've got healthy babies when you see them do that.
Show Hef- pretty slim odds on your heifer not being a freemartin. Hope for the best!!!

Red (cow)