…would be a good name for this just-born English embryo calf. Mom was Tulip, one of the most famous Devon females ever named for a flower. We’re always struck by the deep ruby red coats of the English Devon…at least the pure traditional ones. Compare the coloring to the recipient cow behind her. David

Grandson Church made a quick trip to South Carolina this weekend to complete our herd of pure traditional English Devon cows. TDA 6 should have come north with her herd mates…but she stayed behind at Bill and Nancy Walker’s Century Farm to have a baby heifer. The two curious calves to the left welcoming the newcomers are Thistle Hill veterans. TDA 6 is out of our original Devon cow Cashtiller. This calf’s sire is Victory…out of Buttercup by Falcon. All spotless English Devon pedigrees… almost impossible to find today even in England. That’s why we started archiving the best English bloodlines some years ago…and why today pure, traditional English females…

…and an emotional milestone at Thistle Hill. Just over two years ago, Wooz decided she wanted to take grandson Church to meet our English partners in Traditional Devon. And if, along the way, we discovered a likely cow she planned to make a gift to Church of embryos from that cow. Not surprisingly we found what we were looking for at Shiamala Comer’s Ashott-Barton farm in Somerset. We had to be patient while the young heifer grew up…and then endure disappointment when none of the first four implants “took”. This year we implanted the final four embryos and again two were a failure. But we also learned we had two…

…with “herd bull” tattooed” on their chest. That’s the case with this not-so-little guy who arrived recently. In this picture Equinox is just a few hours old and looking for horizons to conquer. He’s descended from Buttercup, a pure Traditional Devon from Brian Drake’s herd in England. Sadly Brian has now fully retired and dispersed his herd. The sire is TDA Churchill and he goes back to the great English champion Cashtiller, dam of four bull calves that topped the British annual sales. That’s a record that will probably stand forever. Cash, herself, won every Devon show she ever entered! With that much history packed into his 70 pounds, this…

For the past three weeks, this young heifer has been going off by herself….a sure sign of an impending calf. But once Z103 was sure she had Church’s attention she would slip back into the herd. This morning the game finally ended. Born on daughter Carolyn’s birthday, that’s gotta be her name. But the family is still deciding. Grandpa and sire are both English bulls who certainly have transmitted their deep ruby red hair coat. Wooz nicknamed grandpa “Handsome Ransom”. Over the years, I expect our herd will fill out with his beautiful coloring. David

…that’s what grandson Church called it. He arrived at Walker Century Farms to pick up six pregnant cows and discovered he’d only carry five back to Thistle Hill. The trip to South Carolina was part of a major realignment of Traditional Devon females. But we’ll save that exciting news until later. The heifer…should we call her Hurricane?…is out of TD 6 and TD Victory. Mother and daughter will catch up with the rest of their herd mates in about a month. David

…when they are determined to add quality Devon to their herd! Roger and Elaine Witzig picked up a full load of Thistle Hill Devon in Virginia and transported them back to Gridley, Illinois…in all they were on the road 32 hours! Son Shannon took the photo of the arrival at 1:40 in the morning! The Witzigs purchase included two cows, two bred heifers and a young bull. We appreciate their confidence in Thistle Hill and invite you to drop by and share in the enthusiasm. David

…fools rush in, as they say, but we’re going to have to dissent from this announcement from the Temple Institute in Israel. The Institute has hailed the birth of a pure red calf as a sign its time to build the Third Temple. Some Evangelicals consider it a sign of the end times. What we are presented with here is a calf conceived in a Red Angus mother and the resultant embryo imported to Israel. There is no identification of the bull involved. Nor is there any identification of a pedigree much less one tracing back 2000 years. The rabbis seem to have their genetics a bit weak. An earlier…

…that excites us at Thistle Hill. We have always been big fans of Rotokawa’s Ken McDowall and hosted him many times. Ken has been consulted often about our breeding decisions. One day on one his visits he looked at a new bull calf and said, “David you’ve hit the jackpot.” The name stuck…and now here is Jackpot’s son, THF Guardian. Guardian not only displays Jackpot in his pedigree but Thistle Hill’s “2” Rotokawa line, producers of more top animals than any other. Almost needless to say it all starts with Rotokawa 243, who Ken considers his top achievement. As always you’re invited to come see for yourself. David

…this is the start of my favorite time of the year. The air becomes less humid, the leaves are turning and in the mornings there’s a new calf on the ground. We calve in the autumn here in steamy Virginia because it’s easier on mom and baby…surer-rebreeding too on mostly fescue. This little girl is just a few hours old…pure English genetics…at John Forelle’s farm in New York. She’s out of a Cutcombe Jaunty mother and sired by Tilbrook Sunset. John of course was one of the original partners in Traditional Devon America and while retired he maintains a few Devon cows. And here, waiting out the last few weeks…