Double…. Trouble?
Life is a gift, a miracle. We celebrate every little calf born on our farm and sometimes we are surprised with twins! 2020 has been our year for twins.
Our first set of twins was born this spring, these two didn’t skip a beat and never showed signs of slowing. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I think it takes an entire herd to raise twin calves. These two weren’t shy from finding their lunch anywhere they were allowed (there are always a few friendly cows in the herd). As you can see they are almost ready to be weaned and mom is probably ready too!
Our second set of twins… I had just arrived home and Steve had a long day of cutting hay so he asked me to check cows. He knew we had a new calf born out on the grass, so I made my way out to see if it was up and nursing. As I walked, my eyes locked on the new baby in the corner of the pasture, I literally stepped over another calf hiding in the grass. It hit me as I looked around at the rest of the herd that there was only one possibility…. TWINS!
What surprised me the most what the size of both calves. A healthy size for a newborn calf is around 70-80 lbs. These sweet twin heifer calves weighed in much lower than that, our smaller lady was under 30 lbs and the “larger” gal was born at 40 lbs. Both calves were so small that when they were nursing for the first time together, one stood entirely under the cow while the other nursed from the side.
You may wonder why I put “Trouble?” in the title… well, the mother of these twins took a while to accept and allow the smaller calf to nurse. With some success we were hopeful that they would both be supported and thriving. For the health of the smaller calf we decided to supplement feedings and pay special attention to her since the cow’s acceptance hasn’t increased.
And then….our third set of twins arrived, we held our breath. They were loud little bull calves from the get-go and made sure their mom knew when they were hungry. These boys nursed on right away and have been doing well…. still loud as ever when they decide it is lunch time.
Our calving season is still rolling, maybe we will have a fourth set join us!