By VICKI BROWN
A Black Angus farm in Islandton has some new arrivals…twin heifers. Twins occur in only about 5 percent of all births in cattle. But that is not as remarkable as Black Beauty’s history of calving.
On October 25, 2020, owner Kenneth Capers’ coal black heifer named Black Beauty gave birth to twin bull calves, Timmy and Jimmy. According to Capers, twin bull calves are very rare, and these little calves were noticeably twins.
They were identical in every way and perfectly healthy.
Typically, if twins are born it is usually a bull calf and heifer, and one is usually sterile. Capers was also told by the vet that Black Beauty probably wouldn’t produce twins anymore; this was a one-time event.
But Black Beauty amazed everyone and birthed twins again, this time twin heifers, named Linda and Brenda.
While Black Beauty is highly unusual in giving birth to twins, fact that she has had two pregnancies, both resulting in twins is even more rare. For owners, that can actually be quite expensive.
According to Donald Stotts of Drovers Farm Journal, cows nursing twin calves will require an estimated 13 percent more energy intake to nurse twins. So, Capers has been giving Black Beauty extra feed, which she loves.
“It is really cute to watch them nurse. They know what they are doing. Linda gets on one side and Brenda gets on the other. They don’t have any problems,” said Capers.
The additional suckling pressure on the cow will extend the post-calving anestrus period. Therefore, cows nursing twins will take longer to recycle to rebreed for next year’s calf crop. For Capers and Black Beauty, that didn’t happen either. While adolescent Jimmy and Timmy are running around, Brenda and Linda are taking up mom’s time now.
Kenneth Capers, a second-generation livestock producer, serves on the Colleton County Committee at Farm Service Agency and is an active member of Farm Bureau.
Retired from Westinghouse, he spends his days caring for his 98 acres and growing a small garden with his wife.
