# male/female twins



## prairie (Jul 27, 2002)

The female of a male/female set of twins is infertile. Would she be 100% sterile or what chance is there that she's not?


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

I can't tell you the %'s of sterility but I know the dairyman I worked for had multible sets of male/female twins and never wasted his time on the chance of fertility. The overwhelming odds are on the side of the heifer being sterile.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Francis is right, the odds are not in your favor, you could sell both at weaning and buy a heifer if you want.> Thanks Marc


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## prairie (Jul 27, 2002)

I know the dairyman doesn't waste his time with male/female twins, that's how I happen to get them for cheap. I'll raise them both for meat but was considering trying to breed her depending on her chances.
Has anyone actually bred a female of a twins set like these?


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## Apryl in ND (Jan 31, 2010)

I have an elderly neighbor who's raised cattle her whole life and said she only ever had one that could breed. I don't imagine that they kept most around long enough to find out though.

Kind of off subject, but how often do cows have twins? More often than people?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I can remember hearing 10% but can't remember the source.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

I`ve had alot of beef cows have twins, had one cow have twins almost every year.>Thanks Marc


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Praire, the chances of a heifer calf being fertile are rated at 5% so very low. Most dairy farmers wouldn't bother taking the risk of carrying a cow till breeding age only to find out it was sterile, or bother getting blood tests done when they have another several hundred equally as good potential replacement calves to choose from. I personally know of two small farmers who successfully bred from "freemartins" - they took the punt because they could afford to and because they liked the temperament of the cows. 




Apryl in ND said:


> Kind of off subject, but how often do cows have twins? More often than people?


Probably not any less than people but more often now than 40 years ago when twin birthings in cattle were a rarity. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

We had a set born last fall, the vet checked the heifer and said she seemed to be breedable. We are a small operation, I want a heifer from this cow, so I kept her to try and breed her. If she doesn't breed, we will butcher her and she will be great beef.
We actually had two sets of bull/heifer twins this season, but the second set was born dead. So thats two sets out of 60 cows.


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## prairie (Jul 27, 2002)

What sort of test does the vet do to check if she's breedable?


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## scorpian5 (Feb 16, 2004)

There are a few ways to test and it is very easy. You can have a genetic test done when they are young or have vet check them out when older.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

http://www.biogeneticservices.com/freemartin.htm


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I used genetic visions on my two heifers last year. It was only $25 per calf and the results were fast. I've got two new heifer calves this year and I'm going to send in samples on them as well. In my position with so few animals and such little space I want to KNOW if I'm dealing with a freemartin or not before I dedicate two or three years to her.

http://www.geneticvisions.com/freemartin.aspx


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## prairie (Jul 27, 2002)

Thanks everyone! 

I called my vet about the test for fertility. Because she's just a young calf (1 week), the test is simple and we can do it ourselves. It checks the length of her vagina. Through my research, this is what I have found. The vagina of a freemartin is much shorter, a lot shorter. The test is so simple we can do it ourselves. I need to stop by the vet clinic for the 'tester'.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Yes, that is the test I was going to do, but the vet was out for a preg-check anyway, so I had her do it. It was very simple. I'm hoping she was right!!


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

When I was working as a herd tester, I had a farm that would raise up their freemartins, and occasionally one would calve into the milking herd. I'd find the B/H twin notation in the herd book when I went back to check the heifer's sire. So, some ARE fertile, although I believe the official statistic is around 90 percent sterile.


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## unclejae (Nov 22, 2004)

Had a beef twin calve this spring. Great surprise and had a heifer. This is only the second that I know of personally. When I worked at the dairy farm, the farmer would sell these twins.

unclejae


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## Calfkeeper (Feb 1, 2006)

We always get rid of our free martins, don't bother getting them tested. We have one cow that calves twins almost every year. I think it's partly a genetic trait. She has given us 2 sets of heifer twins. It'll be interesting to see if her daughters have twins.


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