Win, Win, Win ! ! ! Like my neighbor always said, 'practicality, patience, & persistence balanced by a learned and practiced eye' make all the difference. Quite a while ago(45+yrs) we were told the story of a well known, local Champion bull. Seems that a family breeding and raising purebreds had a twin problem. After discussing their workload and making some calls they donated one twin, a 6 day old, undersized, sickly bull calf to a couple of 4H/FFA kids in our county. Their 'project' calf had died at a few hours old just a day before. They managed to get their "Ol' Grammy" pet milk cow to, Holy MooCows, except the poor little guy ! Imagine the surprise a year later when all of a sudden that darn Angus bull baby Bloomed and started winning ribbons left and right all the way to state and ? regional ? competitions. He was as a huge, shinny, coal black, laid back, people loving hunk and made Lots of REALLY nice babies for many a farm/ranch until he was 'retired' at . . .18 if memory serves.
Enjoy your videos. Also, thanks for going the extra mile with the extra calves. I had the pleasure to raise 1 heffer that got seperated from momma during a storm, just after birth. We raised her up, and she the best looking cow on our lot. She's friendly, and I still pet her, after all she was my calf. I can work her in the pen, and all she does is lick my arm. 14 years old now, and never let us down. I'll make her my trainer cow next year. She will teach all the weaners how to act. Has done this for us in the past, and most of the calves were very docile, and friendly
Our protocol with twins is to take mother and twins into the yards. Put mother in the crush (squeeze chute) and allow the calves to simultaneously suckle. This seems to draw a very different response by her. We also put a twinning collar on both calves. Then we keep them in the yards for 2-3 weeks with a round bale of cereal hay. She's not walking off her condition and getting plenty of feed to feed her calves. Plus she bonds with both calves. The critical part is ensuring her two calves don't drag her down so much she won't get back in calf when you put her back with the bull.
A lot of farmers in our area keep a dairy cow around. She gets bred every year to the heifer bull and provides milk for the family. They usually pick an older dairy cow with strong maternal instincts who will "adopt" any calf you give her. She usually raises the 2 or 3 extra calves that would have been on a bottle. It's a win-win
Like your channel and info. I have 13 bottle calves right now, yes it is a chore & a half, but I am still learning about all of this stuff. I have a lot of experience with poultry, goats, sheep, and pigs. Your videos are giving me more knowledge on the issues with cattle.
You are 100% correct my friend. Around here in my area, people sell their extra calves for very good money. Someone is always looking for a calf either to raise on there own or to adopt on a cow that lost her calf. Great job.
Great video Tyler! We had two sets of twins this past calving season. One set didn't make it so I grafted a bottle calf that we got from another farm on to her. It took about 6 days in the pen but she finally took to her. The other set was born small but healthy. I monitored them closely the day they were born and she ended up trying to abandon one of them. So I put all 3 of them in the pen together for about 4 days and she raised them all the way through weaning. Persistence is key!
Thank you Herd One Livestock Management! Grafting can be tough but like you said, persistence pays off! One year I had one I was trying to graft for about three weeks and she still wouldn’t accept it! I finally just gave up and turned them out and the next morning guess what? There they were, nursing! You just got to be more stubborn than the cow!! Thanks for watching
I would bottle feed, It’s so cute, my heart is too big,, Well can’t say that anymore,only 30 percent is working, At 85 l had a Defibrillator in ,so l could take care of my cat TKI, TKI, it has given me 4 years longer to take care of her, l am blessed, You are blessed,
Well the cows my husband and I care for are not ours. When there are twins 90% of the time the mom abandones one and I end up raising it on the bottle.last year I ended up with 4 calves I bottle feed. None where twins but sick or half frozen calves from being in a nasty storm. And yes they are mine from the time they end up on my kitchen floor.
Well sounds like the cows kind of made the decisions for you in that case! I love hearing stories about the lengths people go to to take care of their animals, let’s me know I’m in good company! Thanks Linsey
We are half way done calving and three sets of twins. Each set has been brought in and put together for a week. We now have three cows with six calves on the same feed floor and they may not always nurse the right cow, but they nurse a cow.
Good job explaining twins Tyler. I’ve had 3 sets twins so far, I’ve only had to bottle feed one so far. That one is going to a girl for a 4h project here shortly. I guess I look at twins as a bonus, yeah more work but also another calf to sell. Bottle calves are bringing $400 in my area
Thank you Kmsfarms. Bottle calves ought to make great 4h projects being so friendly and used to being handled. $400 wow that’s really good! Thanks for watching
Good video man, always informative, we usually pull one of the 2, BUT this last year I had 2 sets of twins, the first set I left together and watched close, the Mother was a big healthy cow with a good udder so I wanted to see how it played out, each one of the twins learned haw to steal lol so they both grew good and the mother didn't get all worn down. the second set was from a big older cow, I locked them all up together and let them nurse but would also take a bottle out and feed one to help out the calves and the cow. Like Diamond Heart said, around here during calving season you can get anywhere from $200-500 for a baby calf as a spiker calf, I gives you options anyway. Have good deay.
I use to buy Devon calves fro my uncle large dairy Farmer and local other Farmers had vet casterat them sometimes got to be a real pain in my __ loved it though my real dram was to become a dairy Farmer didn't make it but have good memories of dads farm best of luck to you that was an awesome field of hay thanks
Hey again. I was thinking of another option, I would pen the 3 and also teach both to use the bottle if mum allows and is not trying to mow me down, should help her cope and make sure both are getting decent feed. Also, I have just done 2, I fed them once a day but a thicker mix and they had no drama nibbling on pellets, oat hay and some chaff, I have decided to feed mil for another month, so they will be 3 months, they are smashing plenty of pellet, some bread, some green, different hays and also let them onto pasture for a few hrs each day since week old, they know to come back :) I do not use bottle but, rather a hung drinker with teat, you can add many together, if I am doing one later this year, I will go get another 6 or so, if your gonna do it, prob better in multiples, they do the drinking ok by themselves and if there is a divider in the feeder, I know they are getting enough.....well, that is how my non farmer brain works :)
Did you have two sets of twins this year? Guess so. I don’t raise cows but I like how you laid out the options. I watch Sonne Farms in SD and they do all the living options depending on the circumstances.
Have done bottle baby but only because mom rejected one. Like you said much easier if mom takes both & can handle both. You have a great looking herd! Really enjoy your videos.
Thank you so much Tony! Yeah I kind of go to the bottle as a last resort or if I know a cow is a really light milker. I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel! Thanks for watching
Lots of good information there Tyler! I agree with your point of having two smaller calves vs one big one. Congratulations on blowing past 1000 subscribers brother! That's awesome!
Thank you Chris! Yeah it’s really cool to make it to 1000. I really didn’t know if I ever would. I’m hoping with the (small I’m sure) revenue I can start to do some cool projects and get some cool tools I been wanting. I don’t know we’ll see! Thanks again and I haven’t forgot all your shoutouts and promotion you gave me that helped me get here, I really appreciate it!!
I'm greedy, I would raise one on the bottle. Back in the 90's calves were cheap. A friend went to the sale and bought a couple baby calves to raise on the bottle. ( dont know why) He put them in his trailer and parked in the large parking area. He stayed and watched the grown cattle sell for awhile and then drove home. When he went to unload the calves he had five. Someone was just wanting to get rid of calves. lol Another friend left the auction one night and the next morning discovered someone had put a few puppies in his stock trailer. For anyone new to the cattle bitness you just might want to purchase a good lock for your trailer!
We started calving just last year and the last cow to calve was the one with twins. I don't know, things just went well, the thought of pulling one never came to us. She is a Hereford cow and just raised them both without any problems (knock on wood). We tried AI last year and she didn't take, so this year we've got a bull in with the cows. Hopefully she'll take this year and I'm interested to see if she has twins again, which I heard can happen with some cows.
I’ve got one cow that will take other calves from there mom. She will let all the calves nurse. If we have twins it depends on the situation. Have a good one
I know this is an old video but we have always had great luck an hour twins mom's has always been fine...I currently have a 6 year old who has had 3 sets of twins lol lost one at birth last year but she has also been fine raising both...I do give her as much grain as I can...
Tyler, we had two milk cows. One for our house milk. I got to do the milking. The other cow was for orphans and twins. She would take any calf. One time I saw her nursing 4 calves at once. All tails we're twitching. Since she was mostly Brown Swiss she gave lots of milk. She had horns an a crabby disposition. If you wanted to milk her she had to be tied up and her hind legs hobbled. She would kick you and your milk bucket and try to hook you with those deadly horns. We kept her because of her nursing talent. I was ready to shoot her the first time she kicked me. I was 10 years old at the time.
Mike I really like your stories. I can picture the four tails twitchin and that ol brown Swiss just standing there smiling! I was told once, never work cows with your pistol within reach! Haha!
that is how it is around here and 8 hours west of me, in the dairy industry, if the farmer dont need any new cows, they cross bread there Holsteins with black Angus, or some beef bread in hopes the marked changes, but it has not since 2005, and the calves are worth nothing, locally i pick them up from the farmer for free to $50 in fact i just got 2 weeks ago two Angus cross heifers and a bull for next to nothing, if you seen my videos, i have never used a bottle in 48 years. when the market is low an they need calves for new cows the bull out west get like you said bang.. i make the 8 hour drive and pick them all up, for 48 years i dont sell any beef, it is all for families in need, as well as turkeys, chicken, garden. i went thought very hard times when i broke my back at work in 1987 for years well i fight with wsib in court, now i find my self in that same place after our courts gave my cheating gold digging ex wife everything i had and then sum.. if one of my new heifer has twins i pull one off know mater what, being i never use a bottle, it only takes me 1 to 3 times showing it how to drink on its own, it no big deal for me, if an older cow has twins i lock them up, if an older cow has 1 and has lots of milk i put 2 to 4 calves on her, i do have some holstens cross that give loads of milk
Things sure are different down across the border, we just bought a little calf for $375 at action last week, what we do when we have twins or triplets is pull the cow and all calves up to the barn and put them in a small pen until we need the extra calf for one that lost her calf, ive had cows that lost their calf and we put them in a small pan with the dead one until I get back from wherever I can find a calf, I skin the dead one and cover the new one with the hide (tie it on) and put the cow in the calving pen head gate to get the new calf sucking and when he is going to town after it open the head gate so she can back out and smell the hide covered calf, leave them together for the day and then come in and get the calf up work him over so he makes noise and momma is concerned then pull the hide after he starts sucking and they will be able to go out in a few days, we always need extra calves every year so twins are a big blessing
Things aren’t so different down here. I’ve done what you’ve described except I never have skinned the dead one I’ve always been able to get the same results after two or so days of forced nursing. Once her milk is going through the adopted calf’s system it will have the right scent. At least that’s what I was told. But I agree with you, twins are a good thing!
Farmer Tyler Ranch i skin it and then it works every time even if the calf that died is a little older, and I don’t have to mess with it longer than the one day, but when you run as many as we do you get good at skinning and adopting lol but if you have time to force it you are right they will mostly take it too.
Farmer Tyler Ranch I know people that swear by baby powder on both the dead calf and the cows nose and then on the new calf and do the switch but I have never tried it that way lol
Thank you so much Alan! I can’t believe it happened! It is thanks in big part to people like you who support the channel and comment on videos consistently. So thank you for your support! Wouldn’t be here without you!
Tyler have bottle feed and left them on the cow or put one onto another cow to raise just do what you have to do shooting a calf is like giving away or losing money.
Couldn’t agree more Jon. And really it’s not that much extra work, especially if you make a bottle rack or bucket train them. The hardest part is standing there for 5 minutes while they head butt you! Thanks Jon!
If opposite sexed I Always sell the heifer. I've never had one breed back. I castrate the bull calf because that's a genetic I don't want to pass down in a herd. But I'm with you on the rest of it. Great video.
Thanks John. I’m really sorry about the volume, a few others have mentioned it too and I can’t figure out the problem. Everything sounds good on my end. Is it the whole video that’s too quiet or just clips? Thanks
I noticed that when a cow is going to have twins they will have 2 water bags.one will be smaller.i give a cow with twins dairy nuts every day to help them rare the 2.good looking channel
Hmm I never noticed two water bags before but then again i mostly leave them alone while they’re in labor until I feel they need assistance, if it gets to that point. Thank you King 37! And what are Dairy nuts??
@@farmertylerranch4399 dairy nuts are feed that you give cows to milk more.they use them for milking cows here.i suppose you call them another name there.maybe ration or meal.from Ireland
I watched on a show that's located in Alaska, the cow had twins and it broke my heart to see them shoot it They claimed the one they shot was sexless, they gave it to another that had dogs for dog food. Thing about this was the original owner let the cow get grown to harvest it's coat. I don't understand these things😕
I grew up on a beef farm. If a cow has a breech calf, ALWAYS reach in to look for a second calf. 50% of the time if you have a breech calf, there is a good chance there is second calf.
This year had a first time heifer give birth to twins. What I did is got both twins sucking from a bottle and left the twins on her. Once a day I'll make a big bottle of milk replacer and let the calves or twins have the bottle they are still on Mama they're doing good and the bottle seems to just give them a little or her a little help. So they got Mama's milk as little of milk replacer and it seems to be working great no issues with them and it's been about 4 weeks and there stomach is always full
This is an interesting point, but look at the cow she has 4 teats, which tells you she has 4 quarters, so why take one of. I'll explain most of you guys there are raising cattle on a systems much like here in the UK, my dad was a stockman on a beef suckler farm for over 50 years, they used too rear calves brought from auction just like some of you do each cow would be stalled and have 4 calves too rear upto 8 weeks they went out to pasture this was the cows the calves were housed until 6 months old then go out on pasture the rearing of 4 calves per cow did not put anymore strain on the cow as you can supplement her feed ad he used to, a mix of rolled oats, and brood cow nuts he reared thousands of calves this way and never lost a cow or calf O
Thanks BTO I think you picked a good topic! Glad you enjoyed it. So you ready for twins now?? You never know when they will happen. Boy you said it on the day job, why can’t I just get rich farming, ranching, and making RU-vid videos? Haha maybe one day. Thanks for watching and for your input. I may call on you again for your opinion!
@@farmertylerranch4399 i should ask you this ... I've got a cow ,raised from bottle, 3rd calf this year , last year she had a still born calf we had to pull, huge bull calf , this year she had a small bull calf , i thot she might of looked big enuff for twins ... she gave birth without assistance ... should i had check her for twins, i didn't, would she still be alive if she did have a calf and it was still inside her ?
I wouldn’t worry if she had another one in there you’d know it for sure. They will keep pushing until everything is out. I’ve thought the same thing before, man she’s big enough to have triplets! And then no it’s just a little calf. So you can’t really tell just from their size, at least I can’t. To answer your question yes if a calf gets stuck in there it will kill her in 3-4 weeks I’d say but she’ll get feverish and sickly long before that. And usually the dead calf’s hoof will poke out after a few days. So long story short, if she’s acting normal, and cleaned out all afterbirth, I wouldn’t worry about her one bit
@@farmertylerranch4399 thank you very much, yep she seems to be normal bn well a month yesterday, the poor girl has lumpy jaw now for a couple years, still eating and maintaining her weight, but i think it's her time to go at weaning of the calf 😫
No problem BTO. Yeah if it’s been a month she’ll be fine. I’ve had a few get lump jaw and it’s always just gone away after a month or two. That’s weird it has lasted so long. But hey if her body condition is good and she raises her calf I’d consider keeping her another year, why not? She’s doing her job ok it sounds like.
A guild line i go by if I ever have twins lol is pull one off so one calf grows good and bottle feed the other because one on the bottle will grows as good as 2 on one mother plus less stress on momma
I like that strategy and it makes good sense. I still can’t believe you’ve never had a set of twins! Maybe your new herd (that I know you’re going to get) will have the twin gene. Thanks Blake!
Hey triplet gene would make you famous I think! 1000 subs I know how crazy! I really can’t believe it! It’s because I put my wife in the thumbnail picture I think! Thanks Blake!
Wow! I'm glad humans aren't wired the same as cattle! I'd have abandoned the smarter one of my twins! You'd never know to look at her today that she started out at only 4lbs 11oz. LMAO
Damn man you really do know your stuff. We usually take the smaller one or the sterile heifer off. Good video Tyler p.s. Have the wife feed the bottle calves for you. Take care good video Tyler.
Thanks Tom! Yeah she feeds him a bottle in the morning. If she wasn’t also nursing our baby I might make her feed in the evening too haha. Actually she’d probably want to. Pulling the heifers off is a good idea then you don’t accidentally keep one. Thanks again Tom!
Yes I knew that, probably should have touched on that in the video. Damnit! Oh well seems most people know it. The way it was explained to me was that in utero, the bull leaches hormones that mess up her reproductive organs development. There is a slight (maybe 10%) chance she will develop normally but most likely no, unless of course you have twin females then they will breed like normal. Jeez I could sit and talk cows all day! Thanks Tom! How many calves today?
Your kicking ass Tyler. The bull calf takes the hormones away from the heifer. Pretty much making her sterile yes. I could talk cattle all day too. we have a total of 20 calves. 22 hfrs in. And how are yours doing?
So far so good. No new ones in the last two days but it just started raining and I saw a few new bags yesterday so I’m thinking it’s going to pick back up this evening or tomorrow. They just love to calve in the rain for some reason. My theory is it goes back to some survival instinct where maybe predators are less active in the rain or something? I don’t know why I just know that they do it!
I might have a weird opinion here. But id think a guy would want to save every calf. Like you said two is better than one. But I also realise some guys don't have the time to raise a bottle calf. Your cows sure are looking good, content and happy.
Thank you Kory and I don’t think that’s a weird opinion in fact I totally agree. Really once you get used to feeding the bottles it’s not so bad, definitely worth the effort to save the calf I say. Hey Kory you’re in Nebraska right? Are you in danger of flooding?
@@farmertylerranch4399 yea I live in southwest nebraska. Were pretty safe here. We got the wind and rain. But we didn't get the snow like the panhandle did. Or the flooding like northeastern Nebraska did. The coop I work for lost like 5 tarps on corn piles and part of a roof on a pole barn full of wheat. We got lucky. We don't have anything like eastern Nebraska does.
My grandpa told me how if he had a good heavy milker that only gave birth to one but could handle 2 or maybe 3 once but if he didn’t have any to pull off other calves he would buy bottle calves at the sales barn to put on and raise it as a steer.
Farmer Tyler Ranch Yes he is a great mentor him, my dad and two older brothers! My dad has a full time job and my older brothers are off the farm now one in school and my oldest is a concrete Forman, and is going to be buying a farm soon. So most of the time it’s just me and my poppa getting the work done we sold the cattle in 2015 but we’re planning on getting them back in about 2-3 ish years when I’m done high school. And my poppa is the one showing me the ropes and what not. Anyways thanks for your time replying to my comment!
I don'thave cattle but I would bottle feed a heifer calf over a bull calf because she would be more gentle when put into the breeding program. Let the bull calf or the bigger heifer calf stay with the mom for fall feeder market.
If you have a heifer/bull pair of twins (rather than a same-gender set), the heifer's no good in a breeding program. She's what's known as a "free marten" and sterile. So should be put into a feeder program, rather than a breeding program.
How could you ever shoot one of those little guys. You have a bunch of little ones on the farm congrats! Fun time of year growing the herd #WorldsOkayestFarmer
Too add to my question. Does this only happen i cattle? I have never seen or heard of this in other rumanants like goats deer elk or sheep. Is it a genetic issue in domestic cattle?
Having “Freemartin Twins” is the normal outcome for cattle that have mixed sex twins, as in there’s a 90% chance it will happen. However this phenomenon has also been recorded in sheep, goats, and even pigs, although it is far more rare in these animals as they commonly give birth to twins, unlike cattle. The reason this happens is not genetic in a sense, it is because when cattle carry twins there is typically fusion in the blood vessels in the chorion, which is a fancy way of saying the twins share a blood supply from the placenta. This causes her reproductive organs to not develop properly and usually leads to her displaying more masculine traits. It doesn’t really work both ways though, the male twin is basically unchanged. I hope that answers your question! Thanks Tammy
Here we like to let the cows feed twines if that does not work we will feed it or if a cow loses a calf we will try and graft it onto her. We have some Angus/Holstein cows and we have 12 pure Angus cows we find the pure breed calves end up sucking on the cross breed cows for more milk!!
I watched some sell on line and they have brought from $200 - $535 per calf which seems a little high. You can get them for less but the quality isn't there.
Remember a few videos back, you were loading all the dogs in the truck, I just said to my wife, I wonder how long until Tyler has to help that calf in and out of the truck along with the dogs! Lol
Interesting cows have 1 udder gland and 4 tits and goats and sheep have 2 udders glands and 2 tits - cows have 1-2 calfs and sheep and goats have 1-5 kids/lambs - nature is a funny thing
