# Twins Days Apart?



## Fowllife

How common is it to have a pair of twins a couple of days apart? I had a cow have a calf last Wednesday, and then another calf on Monday. Both calves are healthy & doing good, first was a 80ish pound heifer & second was a 70ish pound bull. I know they are both from her since I have a small herd & she is my last to calve out. No other signs on any other cows & she is mothering them both.

I have heard of cows cycling after being bred & having calves 21 days apart, but never 5 days. Did she settle on 2 different cycles & one came late & the other early?

I am assuming she only make colostrum the first time, so am I going to have any health problems with the second calf?


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## Tim/South

Is it possible she had both calves closer together and just now brought the second one out of hiding?

I had one do that 2 years ago. The second calf stayed bedded down and one followed momma.

I have never heard of one calving several days apart thought I do not doubt it is possible. Mother Nature has her own set of rules.

The heifer calf has a 90% chance of being a free martin.


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## Fowllife

That was my first thought, but I don't think that was the case. She didn't clean up after the first one. I tried to pull the rest of the afterbirth out on Friday and it wouldn't pull out. It was starting to get dry though & was covered in, well, you know. She still wasn't clean yesterday but the afterbirth was fresh. The bull calf also acted like more of a day old would (slower, a little wobbly) were as the heifer is pretty spry.

I could be wrong, but all the signs point to them being born days apart. There isn't a whole lot of places for them to hide in that pasture, and they both look different.

The whole free marten thing kind of sucks. The heifer is almost brindle colored (brown & black) & nice & thick. She would have been a good cow prospect. This is the second set of twins from this cow. I would like to keep heifer from this cow but all she has given us is bulls & bull/heifer twins. I'm not brave enough to roll the dice on whether or not the heifers will breed.


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## Vol

Several years ago one of my neighbors had a cow that had twins that were born 2 days apart....strange but true.

Regards, Mike

http://www.thecattlesite.com/articles/975/what-is-a-freemartin


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## bluefarmer

My thoughts same as Tim/south, if not,highly doubtful that the bull calf will live, not getting colostrum


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## barnrope

If they born a few days apart will the heifer still be a freemartin???


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## Tim/South

barnrope said:


> If they born a few days apart will the heifer still be a freemartin???


Yes. She got the bull calf's testosterone in the womb during gestation.


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## Fowllife

bluefarmer said:


> My thoughts same as Tim/south, if not,highly doubtful that the bull calf will live, not getting colostrum


Well hopefully I'm wrong then. I stopped out and checked on them first thing this morning, they are both healthy as can be and bouncing around. Momma was all cleaned up too with a big bag of milk.


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## Tim/South

Cows usually keep making colostrum for a few days.


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## Vol

Tim/South said:


> Cows usually keep making colostrum for a few days.


Yes, cows are alot different about colostrum than horses....a horse usually will only have significant colostrum about 24 hours if being suckled.

Regards, Mike


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## mlappin

Given the age of the second calf it's too late anyways, but we keep around a packet or two of powdered colostrum. It does seem to work.


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## hog987

I read a story in the paper a couple of years ago about a cow that had two calves five months apart. Both healthy fully developed calves. I forget what the odds are but can happen.There are some animals species that can get pregnant while still being pregnant. Some rodents being examples. I had a jersey cow that would always come into heat every 3 weeks even when she was bred. One year she came into heat and than a couple of days later had a calf.


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## Fowllife

mlappin said:


> Given the age of the second calf it's too late anyways, but we keep around a packet or two of powdered colostrum. It does seem to work.


I agree. We have a couple packs of colustrum back at the farm. I probably should have ran back & gave it some, but I was shoked to see it there and didn't think about it. When I though about it laer that night I figured it would be too late then anyways since I'm sure it was probably a day old already.

I will keep you guys informed on how he turns out. So far so good though. Hopefully momma's milk, sunshine & fresh grass is enough to keep him healthy.


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## ontario hay man

There is a test you can do to tell if they are a freemartin. I cant remember what its called but the vet comes and pulls blood and tests it. I think something to do with chromosones. I do it on the holstein heifer calves i buy at auctions. Beats the hell out of feeding them 2 years for no calf.


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