Twins in the cattle world is not something that anyone hopes for, for a multitude of reasons.
Just some examples of that is:
1- most of the time they are very premature, and fail to thrive.
2- the mother will abandon one, or both, of the calves, and will not care for them.
3- Sometimes when the mother takes to one and not the other, by the time a farmer finds the other abandoned calf, it's too late to help.
4- Free martin- when both calves are the same sex, they have all of their reproductive parts. When one is male and the other female- the female does not develop (over 90% of the time) her reproductive parts. And more on top of that.
Twins are not something that any farmer looks forward to having. Some could view it as 2x the income or 2 added back into the herd. We have had two sets born on the farm, and though they were not easy- both sets are a success story.
Our first set was born in the beginning of January of 2021, a heifer and a steer- and the mother did not want anything to do with either of them. After many hours we were able to have the mother accept the heifer back as her own, but she did not want anything to do with the steer.
Just before the twins were born, on Christmas actually, another one of our Recip cows lost her calf (no fault of her own). She barely had any milk left, but it was a hail Mary to get her to adopt the steer. We put the two of them together in a small pin, gave her extra lovin’ (and grain etc) and she did accept the steer calf! It’s why Claire will always be so special to us! Because another thing that isn't easy on a farm- is a bottle calf.
J24 Now!
J23 Now!
J23 has a special job now. Even though she does not have any reproductive parts, she plays a big role with us. She is our Big Bull's personal emotional support cow. She keeps him happy, which keeps everyone happy. So for now, she is a babysitter to a 2400lb Bull.
Fast forward to Fall of 2022- Justin got there in the morning to find 6 brand new calves and 5 moms. After watching all day to investigate and figure out who belonged to who, we figured out that Raven had twins, this time both girls! Raven is a top notch momma, and she accepted and raised both of the girls, Dove and Robin! We separated the three of them off to make sure that both girls were thriving, and Raven was getting enough grain etc. Claire was pretty jealous because she was quite fond of being a stockyard cow- where you don’t have to walk far for your own hay and water source.
Stay tuned for Dove and Robin's most recent pictures- they're both back in the breeding herd and pregnant!
It’s always something, but to say the least, we are never bored around here!
Dove and Robin the day that they were born! Dove!
Tagging both calves in the calf catcher. This way they are safe, Justin is safe, and the momma can see what is happing.
