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SleeplessTaxidermist t1_j6lty9u wrote

Reply to comment by wolfie379 in TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe

Not all that rare nowadays. I believe dairy breeds are more prone to them than beef cattle. It's not uncommon for a cow to reject one of the calves. I see plenty of twin calf posts in my farming and cattle groups during the seasons.

MORE than two is rare and strange. Twin heifers is the lottery.

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Clean-Agent9473 t1_j6m6wpi wrote

It's more common in the dairy industry because of the genetics and also more likely to be with a i or embryo transfer. Most beef cattle is live cover, AKA the bull does the job. Therefore, a life cover is more likely to not give you twins.

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SleeplessTaxidermist t1_j6mcah3 wrote

Dairy cattle are commonly AI'd with sexed semen, yes, but I've never heard of embryo transfer in cattle. Maybe your thinking show cattle or horses? Embryo is expensive as hell. Pretty common in the horse world when you're talking high dollar stock (not Thoroughbreds irrc).

Twins come from the cow, not the bull, live or AI it's up to how many eggs are released during ovulation or if the egg splits. This can happen due to genetic predisposition, hormones, or pure luck.

Some farms also use a cleanup bull to catch any cows that didn't take. AI is also becoming vastly more common for beef cattle, smaller farms especially. Bulls are big, expensive, and dangerous. Way easier, cheaper, and safer, to AI the herd and rent a cleanup bull for a couple weeks to catch the missed cows.

If you're on Facebook it'd recommend the Cow Talk group. You'll see plenty of natural twins from live and AI in both dairy and beef cattle.

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are-you-my-mummy t1_j6mkeq2 wrote

Embryo work is common enough for high value pedigrees in the UK that farmers can take a qualification to do it themselves

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SleeplessTaxidermist t1_j6ork15 wrote

I had no idea that was a thing there! Embryo transfer is like....never mentioned among US cattle farmers.

Honestly there is a lot about UK husbandry practices I really admire. I watch a cattle farrier who trims whole dairy herds and treats various diseases of the hoof. Here, Farmer Joe just sells the cow with poorly feet and gets a cow with better feet.

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