Kelvin Peters calved out 40 cows this spring and there was nothing unusual about the five-year-old Angus cow that gave birth to a 70 pound heifer on March 22.
Cow and calf went about their business on the ranch west of Martensville, Sask., – until three weeks later, on April 13.
Then the cow gave birth to a second 70 lb. heifer.
“That’s got to be pretty rare,” said Peters, who operates DND Ranching in partnership with his wife and daughter.
He’s right about that, confirmed Al Barth, professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.
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“It’s certainly been reported before, but it is very rare,” Barth said. “It’s only the fourth one I’ve heard of in my life.”
Often one of the calves is smaller and weaker than the other, though that wasn’t the case on the Peters ranch.
Barth said it’s possible the calves were conceived at the same time, or at least during the same cycle, but the reasons for such staggered births aren’t well understood in the veterinary field.
Peters said the cow accepted both calves, but he has since adopted one of them onto another cow that had lost its calf this spring.
