There are some genetic and environmental factors that influence the likelihood of twin births, say the experts at Kansas State University鈥檚 Beef Cattle Institute.
鈥淭win births occur in about 2% of beef pregnancies,鈥 said Bob Larson, K-State veterinarian, while speaking on a recent Cattle Chat podcast.
Larson said the majority of twin pregnancies are the result of two eggs ovulated and fertilized at the time of mating. These are known as fraternal twins. Identical twins are the result of a fertilized egg that splits in two during development.
K-State beef cattle geneticist and head of the Eastern Kansas Research and Extension Centers Bob Weaber said there is a genetic link to why twins tend to occur more frequently in some cow families.
鈥淭here was a research study done in which cows were selected for twinning and the scientists, through selection, were able to increase the frequency of twins in the herd, so we know there is a genetic component to it,鈥 Weaber said.
Fraternal twin births also bring about some less desirable development especially when a bull and a heifer are born together, said the experts. These females are termed free-martin and are infertile because of the male hormones crossing through shared blood vessels to the heifer during development.
鈥淥ver 90% of the time the heifers born alongside a twin bull are infertile and so you don鈥檛 want to retain those heifers in the herd,鈥 said Brad White, K-State veterinarian.
Along with genetics, cow nutrition can also factor into the likelihood of carrying twins, said K-State beef cattle nutritionist Phillip Lancaster.
鈥淭hrough research, when we looked at heifer development and puberty, we found that females that had higher glucose levels in their blood had increased fertility and a reduced age at puberty,鈥 Lancaster said. 鈥淭he glucose levels rise in cattle that are fed high energy diets.鈥
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There is a genetic connection in the occurrence of twins.