Freemartin
A child I taught, and who is now a veterinary surgeon, lived on a smallholding and had a house cow. She was very excited one day to tell me that the cow had given birth to twins because that was very unusual.
If the twins are both female, the heifers will develop as normal females. If the calf twins are a male and a female, the female may develop as a freemartin.
A freemartin is an infertile heifer. It is often more aggressive than its female counterparts and displays masculine characteristics. The condition occurs because male and female twins share blood circulation through their placentas, and male hormones are transferred from male to female. In a dairy herd, this is not a happy outcome, as the heifer has underdeveloped ovaries, so will never calve and produce milk.
Twin births occur in 0.5% to 2% of all bovine pregnancies. Although not all mixed twin calves will result in freemartins, it does occur in 90% of all such pregnancies.
Freemartins occur in other species and have been recorded in sheep, pigs, and goats, where the incidence in each species is about 1%. They have been recorded and discussed since 27 BCE.
In Aldoux Huxley's grim dystopian novel, Brave New World, babies are created in artificial wombs and it is a matter of shame and scandal to conceive a child naturally within the World State. A freemartin is a female foetus exposed to male hormones to render her infertile. The practice is part of the government's plan to control the population and only 30% of the female population are not freemartins.
I have learned something new here today.
ReplyDeleteIt made me want to reread Brave New World.
DeleteWell here I am - a dairy farmers wife - & I did not know this!!! This is very interesting. We have had twin calves born on the farm before but the smaller one did not survive. I shall have to tell my husband this - no doubt he will say he knew already (!!) 😉
ReplyDeleteHusbands always know . . . 😉😀
DeleteIf the freemartin is a female foetus exposed to male hormones that rendered her infertile, it makes sense that she will never be be able to calve or produce milk. But for the government to reduce the population of heifers seems cruel. Lots of zoos and stately homes would love their visitors to be able to inspect heifers, fertile or not.
ReplyDeleteIt was the government in the novel, Brave New World, that was engineering the reproductive abilities of people. As far as I know, dairy farmers aren't doing anything of the sort, as it would be counterproductive.
DeleteExcellent informative post. I have heard the word before but I never knew what it meant.
ReplyDeleteIt's a word not in common use. It's interesting that Aldous Huxley was inspired by it, if 'inspired' is the right word.
DeleteI learned something! Now I have to find that book and read it.
ReplyDeleteI want to read it again - that and 1984.
DeleteThank you again. I had heard the word Freemartin but now I know what the term means.
ReplyDeleteI read Brave New World some time ago. Grim indeed.
Dystopian novels are interesting, but leave a sour note and have to be relieved with some nonsense, or is that just me?
DeleteWhat a fascinating post. I had no idea. Now I'm wondering if this ever happens naturally in the case of human twins where one is male and the other female. I'm thinking probably not, as surely the freemartin phenomenon would then be better known. But if not, why not? So many questions!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
Identical twins result from the division of a fertilised cell and are the same sex. Fraternal twins result from two eggs being fertiised at the same time, and may be the same sex or male and female.They each have their own placenta.
DeleteWhere do you get your ideas from?? It's really interesting, I like cows, not as a meat or milk producer, but simply because they have such beautiful eyes.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post arose from something I happened to read.
DeleteCows have gorgeous eyes and such beautiful long eyelashes.
That's so interesting. I don't intend to read Brave New World - much too frightening!
ReplyDeleteThere is something similar with goats - if the parents both have horns but a female kid is born naturally polled (without horns) it's more possible she will be infertile. (Not the same at all really but your post made me remember it)
That's interesting. I suppose it's the wrong sort of evolution.
DeleteWe had a beautiful female cat, who when taken to be spayed the vets found no internal female organs, she had more male traits than female, but was always a girl to us.
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting. I'm sure the vets were intrigued by that.
DeleteWell that was interesting. My father was a top dairy cattle breeder and I've never heard of freemartins. Free Willy, yes. My father was very clever (pity it didn't rub off) and I am sure he would have known about such a thing.
ReplyDeleteWhen people are experts in their field, they don't always realise that what is common knowledge to them is not common to everyone.
DeleteYes they were, asking us loads of questions at the time, and often making comments on her health check appointments.
DeleteEvery day's a school day, there's always something new to learn.
ReplyDeleteCuriosity keeps us alive.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's cousin has raised what we call Fat cattle for years. And very rarely was there ever a twin. But I never knew this information I find it fascinating.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably something they know but don't think to comment on.
DeleteWow, really interesting post. You do find the most unusual things to write about
ReplyDeleteWhatever catches my interest is followed up, but not always published. 😀😉
DeleteYou find the most interesting things!
ReplyDeleteKind of you to say. 😁
DeleteFascinating stuff about the freemartin cows. Somehow, I have never read Brave New World. I wonder how that happened, or didn't happen?
ReplyDeleteThere's still time . . . 😉
DeleteHow interesting! While I did read Brave New World, I don't seem to remember this at all. But then again, it was when I was in secondary school, which is quite a long time ago :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteEven if we don't remember all the details, the essence of the book remains with us.
DeleteWell, I never knew this, though like your previous commentator I did read BNW in my teens (never again, so depressing).
ReplyDeleteFor better or worse, I intend to read it again.
DeleteI didn't know that, and I'm shocked in a way, because both my neighbors when I lived in a rural area raised cattle. I am going to have to reread Brave New World - I have forgotten so much of it, which isn't surprising as I read it over 50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things that farmers know but don't think to relay to non-farmers, I guess.
DeleteI'd never heard of freemartins, but I have now thank you.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post.
Wishing you a happy new month of October.
All the best Jan
Freemartin sounds such an attractive word - not nice in reality, really.
DeleteHi Janice - certainly I didn't know that ... nor have I read Huxley's Brave New World ... not sure I want to now. Interesting ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteBrave New World is a fascinating book, and often bracketed with 1984.
ReplyDeleteLearned something new - had never heard of freemartins and I grew up on a sheep farm.
ReplyDeleteFreemartins are not so common in sheep, I believe.
DeleteI had no idea. That is so interesting. Thanks for sharing. Now I learned something new.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hena.
DeleteI never heard of freemartins. But how it is used in Brave New World is too close to what might happen today to make me feel comfortable!
ReplyDeleteHumans can be too clever for their own good and there are things happening today that are worrying.
DeleteI didn't know about this before although I had heard of the phrase Freemartin. I think I should read 'Brave New World' even if it's not a comfortable novel.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how much of it is relevant today.
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