Watch Those Twins!
"Twins had a 68% inceased risk of all-causes mortality compared with calves born as singletons." This meant that twins were 1.7 times more likely to die than their singleton counterparts.
This was the observation of a California research team that collect calf health data from 5 California dairies. They used information from 11, 945 calves.
WATCH THOSE TWINS!
The authors explain this issue:
"An increase in mortality risk in twin calves may be due to competition for nutrients during gestation, resulting in reduced vigor and health status after birth. Results of the studies by Gulliksen et al. (2009) and Mellado et al. (2014) suggest that it may be beneficial for calf caretakers to closely monitor calves that are born as twins for any clinical signs of illness during the preweaning period. [emphasis added] p7326
While raising my own calves in individual hutches I slipped a plastic cow leg strap in the rear "D" ring of the hutch. This reminded me as well as any other caretaker of the "twin" status of the calf.
As I think back to this time I recall that most of my attention to these twins was during the first two weeks when diarrhea (scours) was the most common problem.
The other time I used the "twin" identity was at weaning time. Once in a while based on too low a level of calf starter grain intake I delayed weaning on a twin. This allowed her to "catch up" with her herdmates and start life as a weaned calf with plenty of energy and protein from starter.
Reference: Dubrovsky, S. A. and Others, " Bovine respiratory disease (BVD) cause-specific and overall mortalilty in preweaned calves on California dairies: The BVD 10K study." Journal of Dairy Science 102:7320-7328 (2019).
WATCH THOSE TWINS!
The authors explain this issue:
"An increase in mortality risk in twin calves may be due to competition for nutrients during gestation, resulting in reduced vigor and health status after birth. Results of the studies by Gulliksen et al. (2009) and Mellado et al. (2014) suggest that it may be beneficial for calf caretakers to closely monitor calves that are born as twins for any clinical signs of illness during the preweaning period. [emphasis added] p7326
While raising my own calves in individual hutches I slipped a plastic cow leg strap in the rear "D" ring of the hutch. This reminded me as well as any other caretaker of the "twin" status of the calf.
As I think back to this time I recall that most of my attention to these twins was during the first two weeks when diarrhea (scours) was the most common problem.
The other time I used the "twin" identity was at weaning time. Once in a while based on too low a level of calf starter grain intake I delayed weaning on a twin. This allowed her to "catch up" with her herdmates and start life as a weaned calf with plenty of energy and protein from starter.
Reference: Dubrovsky, S. A. and Others, " Bovine respiratory disease (BVD) cause-specific and overall mortalilty in preweaned calves on California dairies: The BVD 10K study." Journal of Dairy Science 102:7320-7328 (2019).
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