Feed Lot Magazine Online, Not one in a million, but one in 7500

Volume VIII Number 6

November/December 2000

Not one in a million, but one in 7500

Bob Strong, Editor

We received several responses from our article on triplets, in our July issue.

The three heifer calves pictured were born to a 2 year old, purebred Simmental, first calf heifer. Owners, Wesley and Corrine Arnold of Arnold Brothers Arrow Five Ranch in McIntosh, South Dakota were surprised by the birth. The Arnolds have reported all three made it into the cow herd and have had calves of their own. Their mother has had a single calf born each year since.

Another reply came from John and Carol Lewin of Hay Springs, Nebraska. The Lewins have a cow, born in 1990, which has produced triplets two years in a row.

This cow has a lot of legs to keep track of!

The black baldy cow gave birth in 1997 to one black calf and two baldies. In 1998 she gave birth to triplets again, two blacks and a baldie. All six weighed about 50 lbs. each and were sired by a Black Angus bull.

The Lewins say they have saved some of the heifers for replacements, but they have had only single births.

Dr. Keith Beeman DVM (retired), from Kansas State University. wrote to give us some information on multiple births in cattle.

According to Dr. Beeman, several studies have shown that twins occur in 1 in 96 single births, triplets occur 1 to about 7,500 single births, quadruplets 1 to about 700,000 single births and quintuplets 1 to about 60 million single births.

Multiple births are a breed characteristic to some extent. The larger breeds have a higher incidence of multiple births, and older cows have a higher incidence than heifers. The better-fed older cows (usually dairy cows) are more likely to double ovulate. The incidence of identical twins is about 4 percent to 6 percent of twins born.

The Meat Animal Research Center at Clay Center, Nebraska, has done much research on twinning and has selected cows for twinning. This group has a much higher incidence of twinning than average. Twins are not all that desirable. Many of them are aborted for a number of reasons. Heifers born twin with a bull are very likely to be free martins (not able to conceive). "It was always a disappointment to me, when I delivered twins and found one bull and one heifer", stated Dr. Beeman, "especially in purebred herds."

We appreciate the response from our readers. The one in a million doesn't hold true for triplets; apparently it must be close to that for the Lewin's cow with triplets two years in a row.

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