Triplets

[Billenstein Farms]

How rare are they. We just had a set. 2 bulls and a heifer. 78lb 68lb and 63lbs All doing well.

 

[willow]

Those weights seem pretty good for a set of triplets.  Pretty cool.

 

[kfacres]

personally, think I've only ever heard of one case, and it involved a CIDR and an over dosage of PG...

question: was this natural, or did you synch the cow, or does she has a history with hormones? 

 

[leanbeef]

I'm curious about the breed of the cow (and the breeding if she's a Simmental) and also if she was given anything prior to breeding that might have affected ovulation. Has this cow ever had twins before? We have at least one set of twins almost every calving season, and two sets isn't completely uncommon. Simmental cattle will do that a lot more often than most breeds, I think, and I''ve heard Holsteins also have a higher incidence of twins.

I've seen triplets reported in our breed journal a few times, but we've never had a set before. Not that I WANT a set, but I think it's kinda neat. Hope they're all doing well!

I would definitely get a picture of the whole "family" and send it to my breed magazine. It's pretty rare.

 

[kfacres]

I'm curious about the breed of the cow (and the breeding if she's a Simmental) and also if she was given anything prior to breeding that might have affected ovulation. Has this cow ever had twins before? We have at least one set of twins almost every calving season, and two sets isn't completely uncommon. Simmental cattle will do that a lot more often than most breeds, I think, and I''ve heard Holsteins also have a higher incidence of twins.

I've seen triplets reported in our breed journal a few times, but we've never had a set before. Not that I WANT a set, but I think it's kinda neat. Hope they're all doing well!

I would definitely get a picture of the whole "family" and send it to my breed magazine. It's pretty rare.

i have heard the correlation is b/w high producing cows-- who have a greater chance of dropping more eggs..

 

[leanbeef]

I'm curious about the breed of the cow (and the breeding if she's a Simmental) and also if she was given anything prior to breeding that might have affected ovulation. Has this cow ever had twins before? We have at least one set of twins almost every calving season, and two sets isn't completely uncommon. Simmental cattle will do that a lot more often than most breeds, I think, and I''ve heard Holsteins also have a higher incidence of twins.

I've seen triplets reported in our breed journal a few times, but we've never had a set before. Not that I WANT a set, but I think it's kinda neat. Hope they're all doing well!

I would definitely get a picture of the whole "family" and send it to my breed magazine. It's pretty rare.

i have heard the correlation is b/w high producing cows-- who have a greater chance of dropping more eggs..

Based on what we've seen, I would agree with that. It's usually the really productive and fertile cows. Supposedly it isn't highly heritable, and neither is fertility, but we've seen certain cow families that have repeated twins. Cows that have them once seem more likely to have a second set, and daughters or grand daughters seem pretty prone to do the same thing.

I would be surprised if a cow that has triplets had never had a set of twins before that. Or never does after. Especially if there wasn't some hormonal interference associated with syncing, etc.

 

[CAB]

Odds are one in 105,000 births according to Washington State University of Veterinary Medicine.
I have a neighbor that has had 2 sets of triplets. They are Red Angus &  Simmental breeders.

 

[Billenstein Farms]

she is a Angus out of a Char cow. She had twins last year. No shots or anything like that just hi phos cow mineral just like all the other cows.

 

[JSchroeder]

Unassisted?

 

[kfacres]

she is a Angus out of a Char cow. She had twins last year. No shots or anything like that just hi phos cow mineral just like all the other cows.

do you feed grain?  particularly about 2-3 months after calving?

 

[leanbeef]

You'll need to feed her some! She'll be working hard this year.

 

[DL]

How rare are they. We just had a set. 2 bulls and a heifer. 78lb 68lb and 63lbs All doing well.

Congrats! Cathy would have loved it

an older study found incidence of triplets in beef cattle averaged 1 in 105,000 births

I remember a picture of a cow in the Voice with 5 heifer calves - now that is incredible luck

 

[OH Breeder]

Congrats Guys! Put some pics up and give momma a bucket of grain for all the hard work.

 

[Billenstein Farms]

I helped pull the first one had one leg underneath it but i think if they was both there she would of had on her own. the other two had both feet ready to go. She has been getting haylage that we chop and put into bags

 

[kfacres]

I helped pull the first one had one leg underneath it but i think if they was both there she would of had on her own. the other two had both feet ready to go. She has been getting haylage that we chop and put into bags

how many generations have you had this cow line?  or is it something you bought?

it's genetic sounds like... if you don't like it.. better not keep any daughters of her...

 

[JSchroeder]

How did you know to keep watching?

 

[mainegirl]

That is so neat! The breeder I buy my cattle from had a Shorthorn cow have twins (bull and heifer). The bull is my herd bull now And the next year she had triplets. Sadly, he lost all 3 they were early and tiny. Then he had a Maine X heifer have triplets out of his smokin joe bull. he lost 2 of the 3. What was interesting was he had another heifer bred to this bull have twins that year too.

I was wondering... I know that when a cow has twins- bull and heifer, the heifer is a free martin. When a cow has triplets, 2 bulls and a heifer or 2 heifers and a bull, does this mean they are freemartins too?

 

[kfacres]

I know that when a cow has twins- bull and heifer, the heifer is a free martin.

Not always...  actually more like a 92% of not being good.  Type in Chymera in google.. will help explain this better.

When a cow has triplets, 2 bulls and a heifer or 2 heifers and a bull, does this mean they are freemartins too?

Maybe, what causes the infertility-- has nothing really to do with the actual number of births- but has to do with egg splitting in half to form twins-- since most cattle won't drop 2 eggs.  Somewhere along the lines- the heifer calf gets a shot of male DNA forcing her to be sterile.  IF the triplets are from one egg- which I do not believe to be possible *unless the cow had quads and absorbed one* one should be different DNA-- or as my guess most of the time would be-- she dropped 3 eggs. 
Now in sheep and goats, where dropping on more than one eggs is common- rarely  are "free martins" ever seen.

 

[Billenstein Farms]

when i pulled the first one i felt the second one and when i pulled the second felt the third.

 

[vc]

Here are some pictures from an old post on Cattletoday.com 2 different people 2 different continents

http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48020&hilit=triplets

http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45099&hilit=triplets