Calves born seven to eight days apart may or may not be twins. They could be maternal half-sibs or full-sibs if they have the same sire. The calves could be from separate ovulations 21 or so days apart, and calving can actually occur 10 to 14 days on either side of the due date. This does not occur often, to our knowledge. Generally, contractions associated with the birth of the first calf would cause premature birth of the second calf. It would be important to get colostrum into the calf. A practical rule of thumb is to feed 5 to 6% of the calf's body weight within the first 6 hours and repeat the feeding when the calf is about 12 hours old. For an 80-pound calf, this will equate to approximately 2 quarts of colostrum per feeding.

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