3 sets of twins in 3 years

[Henarar]

This cow calved a few days ago and its the third year she has had twins, can't be to common ?
I can't remember having one have twins 2 years in a row before this one

 

[serf]

This cow calved a few days ago and its the third year she has had twins, can't be to common ?
I can't remember having one have twins 2 years in a row before this one
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Why did you use a Holstein bull on her

 

[Happy]

I think it is fairly common for some cows to have recurring twins.

Have had a few do it on a couple of occasions. Once had one have 5 sets from 8 calvings.

 

[TheRanger]

It's usually dietary related, but can also less commonly be genetic

 

[serf]

Got one family prone to it at min and had a cow 20 years ago that had lots of twins and kept twin heifers off her and one was pure lim colour and other Hereford face and the lim had more twins and the Hereford had none

 

[Henarar]

Why did you use a Holstein bull on her

She is a 3/4 Sim and the calves are British blue cross, each set have been by different bulls.

 

[milkloss]

Certainly more of a genetic thing for us. We have a couple of cows that is a relief to have a single as they deserve a rest.

 

[AftonShepherd]

I had one had twins 3 years out of 4, the single heifer in the middle was kept but never got in calf making me wonder if she had started off as a twin but her brother had been resorbed

 

[serf]

This cow calved a few days ago and its the third year she has had twins, can't be to common ?
I can't remember having one have twins 2 years in a row before this one
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Got some milk on her , she will do them well

 

[hendrebc]

Had a cow before that had a single as a heifer then a twin next year, then a single, then a twin. And went every other like that till she was 16 I think but never had 2 sets in a row. Had a lot of calves in her time and was no trouble at all. if only they were all like that.

 

[Pistonbroke]

We bought a pedigree Lim with a calf at foot but she'd had twins the year before. She had three pairs in the next five calvings

 

[Henarar]

Got some milk on her , she will do them well

She done the last two sets well,

 

[farmerclare]

The cow in question is named after my mum (Doreen) so whenever I went to the cattle sheds I would say ' hello mum how's your twins not expecting her to produce the third set in three years. Each set has been one bull and one heifer so not even a nice heifer to keep.
She did have a lovely heifer a few years ago but somebody took it to Frome

Can't imagine who would do such a thing

 

[RushesToo]

Had a cow before that had a single as a heifer then a twin next year, then a single, then a twin. And went every other like that till she was 16 I think but never had 2 sets in a row. Had a lot of calves in her time and was no trouble at all. if only they were all like that.

Hope you hung onto the genetics, sounds like the perfect cow.

 

[Radio]

One of our Charolais cows had 3 twins in a row years ago, all good calves.
Great when this happens, enjoy the moment. Hope you get 4 twins in a row.

 

[hendrebc]

Hope you hung onto the genetics, sounds like the perfect cow.

There must be some here somewhere but probably not as many as there should be. I seem to remember a lot of bull calves and freemartins. I would only have been about 19 when we realised she was going every other and wasn't really paying attention before that she would have been a fair age then she was on the old tags before the uk number m4457 or something ours was.
The last single heifer from her was destined to be kept but it went mental at our annual tb test and started jumping fences and never stopped (the welsh black coming out in her she really didn't like the vet ) and disappeared for a few weeks and was at our neighbours for ages after she wouldn't come in. She was never the same she went fat from the shed she wasn't safe to keep.
Then she had twin bull calves the last set.

 

[Hesstondriver]

Can be genetic, but I think it’s recessive so you can’t select for it .

diet (flushing) does have a small impact but it’s not like sheep . It’s hard to stimulate any form of super ovulation.
If you’re selling store cattle it would be a great trait to have if you don’t mind the occasional extra work !

 

[hendrebc]

It must be genetic because there are a few herds of twinning cattle about in the world. They've never really caught on though.
@NZDan knows more than I do.

 

[ImLost]

It must be genetic because there are a few herds of twinning cattle about in the world. They've never really caught on though.
@NZDan knows more than I do.

Can't really find anything online about herds of twinning cattle. Any pointers to info/articles?

 

[M-J-G]

We've had several with twins 3 times in a row, the best one was one who's first 3 calving were twins and she had 6 calves before 4yo.
We've had several that have had twins 3 years out of 4, one even had triplets after having had two sets of twins earlier in her career.

The down side is that the ones that have twins too often don't usually make old bones as it ages them pretty quickly.