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As many of you know, Abby had twin heifers (two girls!) a few weeks ago. While we are ecstatic about adding 2 healthy heifer calves to the farm, most of the time twins are actually NOT considered a good thing on a dairy farm.
Cows are really only meant to have 1 calf at a time and having multiples is hard on the mama! Cows that have twins generally have more difficulty giving birth and most of them end up needing assistance from their farmers and/or the vet. Abby luckily did not! Twins pull more resources from the mother throughout the pregnancy and so cows that give birth to twins often have more trouble recovering from the birth and during the time that they are giving milk.
As for the calves, calves that are born a twin tend to be smaller than normal and are more likely to be born early. You might remember the itsy bitsy teeny tiny bull calf we had born about this time last year. He was a twin (his twin brother was stillborn - another common problem with twins) and only about half as big as a normal calf. Twins are often less thrifty and have more health problems throughout their lives. The biggest concern with twin calves though is freemartinism. A free martin is a heifer calf that has a twin brother (bull). A free martin is almost ALWAYS infertile. Meaning they will never have a calf and become a milk cow. Freemartin calves are raised for beef just like a steer. Because of this we are especially happy that BOTH of the twins were HEIFERS!
So, we were truly blessed with this set of twins. Abby carried them to term, did a great job delivering them AND she is recovering well! Furthermore, both twins are good sized and full of vigor. The fact that both twins are heifers is the absolute icing on the cake!!
Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm
Cows are really only meant to have 1 calf at a time and having multiples is hard on the mama! Cows that have twins generally have more difficulty giving birth and most of them end up needing assistance from their farmers and/or the vet. Abby luckily did not! Twins pull more resources from the mother throughout the pregnancy and so cows that give birth to twins often have more trouble recovering from the birth and during the time that they are giving milk.
As for the calves, calves that are born a twin tend to be smaller than normal and are more likely to be born early. You might remember the itsy bitsy teeny tiny bull calf we had born about this time last year. He was a twin (his twin brother was stillborn - another common problem with twins) and only about half as big as a normal calf. Twins are often less thrifty and have more health problems throughout their lives. The biggest concern with twin calves though is freemartinism. A free martin is a heifer calf that has a twin brother (bull). A free martin is almost ALWAYS infertile. Meaning they will never have a calf and become a milk cow. Freemartin calves are raised for beef just like a steer. Because of this we are especially happy that BOTH of the twins were HEIFERS!
So, we were truly blessed with this set of twins. Abby carried them to term, did a great job delivering them AND she is recovering well! Furthermore, both twins are good sized and full of vigor. The fact that both twins are heifers is the absolute icing on the cake!!
Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm
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