SleeplessTaxidermist
SleeplessTaxidermist t1_j6mcah3 wrote
Reply to comment by Clean-Agent9473 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
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.
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.
SleeplessTaxidermist t1_j6ork15 wrote
Reply to comment by are-you-my-mummy 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
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.