I Didn't Want Twins

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:36 am

Interesting what you say regarding mothers abandoning the female calf, as that is exactly what happened with mine last year. The mum was doting on her son and just walked away from the female after she had calved. The poor little thing was desperately trying to coordinate her legs and walk after her mum. I did keep a close eye on her and luckily her brother often wanted to be with her, otherwise she would have been completely alone. She has grown up well, but mum has always had her rated as second best.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:52 pm

The production of a freemartin is indeed produced by the placental circuclations of the two calves mixing. Testosterone inhibits the development of the tubular structures which become the oviduct and uterus in a normal heifer. If the cells ciruculating in a freemartin's blood are examined they constitute what is known as a "chimera" ie the animal has cells from two individuals circulating. Freemartins which reach maturity do indeed look more like steers than heifers, and especially in dairy breeds can often be spotted from a distance. A vet should be able to tell for certain by rectal examination. The cells of the male and female can be detected in the blood due to the presence of XX and XY chromosomes.

However, having said all that, we should remember that the tendency to produce twins is to a certain extent inherited. At low level incidence of twinning the genetic tendency is not important, but it is not a tendency that it would be good to increase. It might be a different story if cattle twins were as welcome as sheep twins usually are, but they are not. That is why I do not think it wise to use bulls which are twins, as their daughters will be more likely to produce twins.

Duncan

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:46 pm

Thanks for summing up Duncan. I appreciate that the twins are quite likely not to be a result of genetics, and therefore nothing would be passed on, but there is a chance and with a bull it isn't worth cascading the risk down. So I'm going to beef both although having spent years getting to this point it'll be a huge disappointment. I'll put her straight back in calf to the same bull she has just calved by and keep my fingers crossed for a single bull next year.

I carried the female again and I think her weight was nearer 17-18 kilos, not 20-22 as I said before. Both are being looked after well by mom.

Edited By Broomcroft on 1247842127

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 7:10 am

Sorry, it's me twins again...I've been playing so did a little slide show to see if it worked with music!

http://cataylor.myzen.co.uk/Misc/the_twins.html

You have to press the PLAY button.

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:00 am

Clive, you are far too clever for us lot!!!!!!!!!!

Louise Badcock · Post by **Louise Badcock** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:40 am

There is no play button just a nice empty screen with sand castle

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:21 pm

I just tried it twice - it plays OK for me.

The play button is below the sandcastle, more than half way down the screen.

Maybe it is your computer Louise, or you need to wait a little while for it to ready itself?

Stephanie

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:41 pm

I can't tell what other computers will do. It's just a "wmv" Windows Media Player file. But if you try to load it on an Apple Mac for instance and haven't got a window media player it'll give you an error message such as a MIME error.

I'm only guessing but it could be that your system is set up to download the whole file before starting to play it, rather than streaming it as it is playing, in which case just wait for quite some time for it to appear, or try double-clicking on the frame where the show should be. Don't get too excited though, it's just some photos with corny music and some effects and only lasts about 30 seconds.

Louise Badcock · Post by **Louise Badcock** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:23 pm

play button appeared but to my disapointment all i get are some purple lines and the music. hey ho!

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:22 am

And I get the photos but not the music, but then I already know that I have a pre-existing audio problem.
Great photos though, Clive.
My sister has done a lengthy photo show of the February fires to a background of Leonards Cohen's 'Alexandra Leaving'. The particular program folds the photos in and out, and it gives an illusion of movement.
Margaret.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:44 am

Hi Margaret - The slide show on the twins should also do folding and moving etc. I don't know why these things work differently on different computers. It should be just a standard windows media player file! The first image is dad.

http://cataylor.myzen.co.uk/Misc/the_twins.html

I don't understand the purple lines issue Louise. Hope you enjoyed the music!

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Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:02 pm

Dominic - You were right. Here's a para from a big study on freemartins.

"Swett et al. (24) and Goss (5) described clinical signs of the bovine freemartin such as abnormal development of the clitoris, the small vulva, the short length of the vagina, and the lack of estrus. Arrested development of the udder and the teats also occur in many freemartins as they approach puberty."

The study also goes on to conclude that where a female twin is fertile, then she is likely to free of the chimera condition. It's interesting. It can or at least has occurred in sheep, goats and pigs apparently. Also, if the male has normal sized testicles he should be fertile. (He may carry genes for producing more twins though).

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