12/01/2026
Ahh twins. So cute.
So little. So risky for the calves and their mothers.
Somewhere in our herd, there lurks a propensity for twins. I assumed it was confined to one of our original cows who had at least 3 sets, ultimately dying during the last birthing. She was my favourite cow in the mob, producing beautiful heifers. I also strongly suspect she was the mother of our farm's most photographed cow, Blackberry, who we found abandoned and subsequently hand raised.
I have kept a close eye on her daughters during calving, with no problems so far, with neither having had twins.
But now I have unrelated heifers twinning, right as the season is really going south.
Just before Christmas, during a hot spell, we found a dead calf in the dam with our calving maiden heifers. Being such sneaky calf hiders, I hadn't realised 'Blue 21' had 2 calves, and obviously wasn't mothering both of them effectively. Insert guilt for not cottoning on and managing it better.
Within weeks, a young cow, 'Blue 9' (second time calving), gave birth to our first calf of 2026. Actually, make that calves. Again, I didn't realise until we spotted them during our last Farm Tour.
With feed getting tight, the future of these little fellas was grim as I doubted mum would keep and feed both of them. I hate taking a poddy from a healthy mother, so we decided to cut the 3 of them out of the mob and keep them in the yards on hay. While she's not impressed about it, Mum has put weight on, and her udder is full despite one or the other calves being on the teat every time I check them. This week's plan is to find a friend for the cow and put them in a small paddock on feed until the calves are a bit more independent.
To quote one of my favourite farming sites, , "My fondness for twins has not improved. On a scale of 1-10, it still hovers around the zero mark, regardless of how (totally irrelevantly) cute you may think they appear."
