Lucky cow!

[Gypsy07]

I have a heifer cow and a bullock that are twins. I got them as tiny calves and if I hadn't taken them they'd have been shot and fed to the dogs at our local hunt kennels. They're from a dairy herd, so the males are mostly worthless anyway, and cause the female was a mixed sex twin, she was most likely going to be infertile and therefore worthless too. She had a twisted neck and front legs that wouldn't straighten up and she couldn't stand properly or walk for almost three weeks. Anyway, she came good after a while and they both grew up fine. They're very tame and friendly and I love them.

My boyfriend thought they were both worthless eating machines and thought I'd get bored of them soon enough, and he'd be able to take them to the slaughterhouse and get some money back in return for all the feed they've packed away. Ha! No chance. Anyway, we'd been told by everyone, including four different vets, that the female would almost definitely be infertile. Her chances of getting pregnant were put at somewhere between one in a million and one in a hundred. We told the vets that she seemed to come into season normally enough but they still said no chance. But last summer we AI'd her anyway. It cost hardly anything and we had nothing to lose by trying.

So we waited a while and almost forgot about it, then at New Year we got her checked out by a vet.

And she's now six months pregnant!

I think I should start buying lottery tickets

 

[TigerLilly]

Congrats! Here's to hoping everything turns out ok with the baby.

 

[EweSheep]

Whoaaa! LOL!

Maybe those old science books are worthless studying about those kind of cows and maybe not all of them are infertile. I bet if you can get farmers to TRY to breed their twin sex cows, I bet the stastics will change!

If and when she drops her calf or calves, your boyfriend can take you out for a steak dinner with all the trimmings!

 

[Katy]

You are lucky with her.....we've never had a mixed set of twins in our cows that the heifer wasn't a free martin.

 

[sourland]

In most instances the heifer calf is a free martin and infertile. As usual, Katy is right on the money.

 

[Sumatra503]

Is it because they are in the same amniotic sack unlike goats and sheep? It just never made sense to me.

 

[lasergrl]

You can and should always probe a freemartin to determine if it really will be infertile. If probing it turns up good there is a blood test to verify it. 10% will be fertile.

 

[Peep Talk]

Quote:
It's because the testosterone can get to the heifer calf and by doing so, it will cause them to be sterile. If I remember correctly it is because they share the same amniotic sack and blood supply.

 

[Katy]

They usully have a certain look to them too.....hard to explain, but their hind quarters look high and pinched....just a look they've got.

 

[oesdog]

You are so lucky with her. May you have loads more healthy calves from her and may they also be VERY fertile!!!!!! I love the cows giving brith in the back paddock behind the house, they don;t half bellow all night but the best bit is when I open the curtains in the morning to a new little life!!!!

Oesdog -