I—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 18,1981 10 Twin calves born 17 days apart BYJOYCEBUPP Staff Correspondent RED LION An old Angus cow with a brand new calf and no milk to feed it might tempt most beef producers to make a quick trip to the auction “My herdsman, Sylvester ‘Boss’ . Rittenhouse, told me we might as well sell her lor beef, since she still wasn't milking anything for two weeks,” Ross Manifold remem bers. Manifold, who keeps 15 Angus cows on his 66-acre farm at R 2 Red Lion, was reluctant to load up the 16-year-old ailing Angus for the haul to market. After all, she’d regularly produced a calf all those years, and her age wasn’t really showmg Still, the fact remained the cow had no milk for the calf, and showed no mterest in even trying to eat her gram, after dropping the 30-pound heifer calf on October 24 Within a few days, the calf had looked so hollow and seemed so hungry the Manifold began bucket feeding. For two weeks, the cow barely picked at her feed, spending most of her time just moping on the straw bedding “But by November 7, she started to eat a little better She still didn’t have any milk though ” Manifold continued to be puzzled over the condition of the reliable old brood cow. On the morning of November 10, 17 days later Manifold walked to J' < >X' *» w. \ Mk* -5V ff X*/ i : x% ‘‘ W; > '** ~ v iSSfjJMp *’**>V * - '£&&&**■* \&2*Sme - **<*:*£• V**"* XsaSsfe ? .. JS^JvPW . iMwfcT* -*- ' '•'•• **' » ,’ j^2*4)eny*^»>_ lr Now that’s incredible! An apparent double ca!J, center, and then 17 days later, dropping pregnancy of Ross Manifold’s 16-year-old a heifer, right. Although small at birth, the Angus cow resulted in her dropping a bull pair is growing well. k*' York to hold homemaker’s day YORK The annual spring homemakers day sponsored by Penn State Extension Service and open to the public will be held from 10-2:30 on April 29 at St Matthews Church. The program offers something of interest to all ages Barry Towman from Shiloh Nursey will present a slide show and offer tips for land- Manifold believes that the two calves resulted from separate breedings, rather than a twinning. His veterinarian. Dr. George Hartenstem of York, says such an occurrence could happen if one of the cow’s ovaries had been im pregnated, and against the normal cycle of nature, an egg had been released by the second ovary, and was fertilized. Even more unusual would be the carrying to full term of two such separately conceived calves “I don’t know that anyone has ever done any statistical research on this, but the odds would have to be astronomical,” Hartenstem says He adds that in 40 years of veterinarian practice, this double pregnancy is a one-of-a-kind oc currence Both calves, and recuperated mother, are doing well and have not been turned out to pasture with the rest of the herd, following a winter of confinement to the barn. Manifold kept the calves on supplemental formas until they » 'i .. , ' f 4* »•* 3: scaping and tiower gardening Vicki Inscho, Freelance Home Economist, noted for rmscrowave cooking classes will present Slick Tricks With a Microwave. Dr. Walter Johnson, Extension Specialist, will present “First Aid For Furniture.” He had the an swers on what to do for such things as cigarette uuma and those nasty the bam to check on the sick cow and found the last thing he ex pected. She’d dehvered a second calf during the night. This new arrival was a bull, and was also small, weighing no more than 30 pounds. And, finally, the cow had come into milk. It wasn’t in sufficient quantity to satisfy both calves, so Manifold continued to supplement both with bucket feedings were six weeks old, and con structed a special creep feeder where they could get their regular ration of corn chop with a topping of commercial complete calf feed. Still nursing the pair of calves, the cow is bred back and again due to freshen m November What surprise she might hold in store this time is anyone’s guess. A twin herself, the cow is from one of four that Manifold pur chased over twenty years ago from neighbor Lee Poorbaugh. He ventured into Angus beef mostly as a hobby for the farm he’d pur chased on Freysvdle Road, after moving from his former home at Sunnyburn. Longevity seems to be a trait of these Angus, since one of Manifold’s original purchases remained productive in his herd for twenty years. Manifold suspected that his cow’s delivery of two calves was exceedingly rare after viewing a segment of the television show, “That’s Incredible.” That sequence was based on the story of a woman who gave birth to two babies with timing similar to the Angus cow. Manifold is retired after 40 years with the American Cham and Cable Company in York. Between raising angus, and tending his farm chores, he’s taken an active role m the Red Lion chapter of the American Association of Retired People, and serves as their president * '