baconseedsower
baconseedsower t1_j6lvi0j wrote
Reply to comment by vyrelis in TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe
It isn't uncommon. They are hardwired for the concept of one baby, so when nature gives them two, they don't always understand. Also, they're cows. Not very bright.
baconseedsower t1_j6l3aqh wrote
Reply to TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe
I still have the male twin from a pair I bottle raised. They were born full size and the cow had them unassisted. The farmer found her later trying to figure out which was hers. Ultimately he took them both and gave them to me to raise. The heifer was a freemartin and a jerk. She went to auction at about butcher age. Her brother had been hypoxic at birth, we think he was the second one and took too long to come out. It caused brain damage that made him dumb and lovable, so we trained him as a work animal, but mostly he's an oversized pet.
baconseedsower t1_j6m248c wrote
Reply to comment by QAoA in TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe
No, cows generally have one and many don't survive having twins. I don't remember the exact amount but less than 5% of births are twins, and usually they are undersized due to lack of space. The fact this girl managed to have full size twins unassisted with both babies and momma surviving is shocking.