freemartin

(redirected from Freemartins)
Also found in: Dictionary, Encyclopedia.

freemartin

(frē′mär′tn)

A female animal, usually a calf, that is born as the twin of a male animal and is sterile because of having abnormal internal reproductive organs.

freemartin

a female twin born with a male, in which normal female sexual development has been adversely affected by hormones produced by the male twin.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

Mentioned in ?

mosaic

References in periodicals archive ?

However, if you end up with a male/female pair, and you're a glass-half-full sort of person, there are ways to tell if your female is a heifer or a freemartin.

Touching placentas will often form into one, ensuring a freemartin. If there are two distinct placentas, the female calf may well be fertile.

Feel around for an extra opening or protrusions; both indicate a freemartin.

Trouble with twins

Due to freemartins, the practice of purchasing or retaining the female half of twins for breeding purposes should be avoided.

Since a freemartin is outwardly female, about the only accurate way to determine this status when purchasing calves is an examination by a vet.

Multiple births in cattle aren't always desirable

Wright's freemartin." His publication also included a precise drawing of the gonads and reproductive tract of an animal with this anomaly.