Two for the money
WASHINGTON, D.C. (INEWS) – Government livestock researchers in the United States are reporting success in efforts to increase the frequency of twin births in selected beef cows.
In the process, the researchers hope to boost the efficiency and quality of U.S. cattle production.
At the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Meat Animal Research Centre in Clay Center, Neb., scientists have spent 15 years using precise ovulation records and careful breed selection to identify individual bulls and cows that are genetically disposed to produce twin calves.
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The result is a crossbred beef cow herd made up of nine different breeds. More than 35 percent of the cows give birth to twins. That compares with a normal beef cattle twinning rate of between one and four percent.
Why the push for twins? The researchers say that while twinning cows are more expensive to feed and more difficult to manage, a higher incidence of twins can be a fast way to increase the size of a cattle herd.
A larger herd can lower a ranchers’ per-animal costs by as much as 30 percent.
Researchers have also discovered that when a cow that produces twins goes to slaughter, it usually grades at the top of the scale.
But there are some serious problems associated with twinning.
The survival rate among newly-born twin calves is 15 percent lower than among singly-born calves.
The gestation and delivery of twins can also be difficult for the cow, with expensive veterinary complications ranging from maternal nutrient deficiencies to retained placentas.
Even though some commercial breeders have begun purchasing twin-prone bulls and cows from the research centre, researchers there say most cattle producers still consider twins a curse rather than a blessing.
But the scientists believe attitudes will change with additional breeding refinements and better livestock management plans.
The rate of twin births in a herd will have to exceed 40 percent, they say, before twinning becomes economical for the average cattle producer.
