The last thread got me thinking which might be dangerous on my part . In cattle , if twins are opposite sex : bull and heifer calves . The heifer is usually sterile . Hormones from the male cause the heifer’s reproductive organs to not form . Does this happen in deer ? They are called free martens.

Absolutely not. Deer and cattle are completely different critters with different ecology, habits, diets, breeding, reproduction, etc. Cattle and deer are not synonymous in any way they live their lives. In most cases, young males disperse, so breeding their relatives is not very likely to happen, which is what I’m assuming is the reason calves may be sterile (to prevent sibling breeding). I have no idea because I’m not a cattle guy.

Thanks Matt , I knew it didn’t occur in sheep , goats and many mammals with multiple births but hadn’t really give it much thought on deer . We run about a 100 head of momma cows and average a set of twins about every year . With the price of cattle you would think twins would be a good thing but usually it’s not . Cows tend to focus on one and will walk off and leave a second calf. Unless a cow is a good milker a second calf may have to be bottle fed . I have a set of bull/ heifer twins now . Luckily I found them the morning they were born and realized what was happening. The cow had left one hid and walked off with the other one . The older I get the more amazed I am of God’s handiwork .

By the way , this cow’s half sister had triplets last December. First set that I know of . We lost one and had to put the other 2 in the garage for a couple of days and bottle feed till we got them hooked back up with their mother . I’ve got a very understanding wife but she wasn’t very happy with the arrangement .

We actually had triplet calves born a few years ago. 1 in 100,000 chance or something crazy. But the more impressive part to me was she had all 3 without assistance and raised all 3 until they were selling size. As you mentioned, about half the time a mother will abandon or neglect one if she has multiples

Our set of triplets were 2 bulls , one heifer . My son was putting out hay that morning and called saying there was a calf wandering around trying to nurse every cow , calf and whatever in the pasture. Told him to go find a particular cow I knew was close to calving. She was with one and another was 100 yds away with buzzards working on it . All 3 were identical in their color and markings. It was during that super cold weather last December.