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English update….
The bull calf on the left is out of a Tulip dam, a line that goes back as far as there have been herd books in Britain…about 170 years. He’s definitely a “comer”; love his head and muzzle! The heifer on the right is out of Bribery. Church spotted her dam on his first trip to England. Ten years earlier I fell for her grandmother but it took young Church to sweet-talk breeder Shiamala Comer into releasing the genetics. We’re often asked how we judge purity. Check the muzzles on these two calves. Flesh toned…clear of any spots. It also helps to know your registrar. In years past, our in-house…
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Lord of the manor…
TDA Churchill was the first bull we developed in our pure English Devon project and we now have about a dozen of his progeny in our herd. Churchill’s dam was the best Devon cow we ever saw. She was national grand champion three years running until her breeder, Gavin Hunter of Tilbrook Grange, took pity on other English breeders and stopped showing her. Just as impressive…for four straight years her sons (Churchill’s brothers) topped the national Devon show auctions. We’ll always be grateful that Gavin shared Cashtiller with Thistle Hill. Cashtiller grandsons and granddaughters are available for inspection at our Farm. David
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Looking for volunteers….
….and here they are from the main herd. A big week at Thistle Hill as we implant embryos from the two heifers we purchased in England. There are four more waiting in another pasture….young cows who’ve had just one or two calves. Again, we’re congratulating ourselves for choosing Red Devon some years ago….they are calm and easy to handle in this sensitive project. You can see the current calves relaxing just outside the pen. The process takes about 10-15 minutes per cow, including moving them into the chute and headgate. Dr. Tom Massey of Rose Hill Veterinary Service did the implant work this time. We enjoy working with Tom because he…
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Thistle Hill Alumni Club….
…..Q48…was our first female when we switched to Devon in 2002. We made the short trip down to Madison, VA recently and Rich and Linda Maurer’s Springhaven farm, where 48 is still producing outstanding calves at 13 years of age. Actually, we have double reason to be proud. The Maurers brought 48 back home to breed to Traditional Devon’s ™ Highwayman and he barely let her get off the trailer before starting his courtship. Apparently has a thing about older women. “48” was a daughter of Lakota’s H89….a bull we feel is one of the great unsung sires of the breed. And it’s probably not a coincidence that an even older…
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Ma, our baby boy is all growed up!
His name is Augustine and he’s packed with Rotokawa 667 genetics. He’s also the son of one of our favorite cows. With all the attention we’ve been devoting to our English project, we didn’t want to give the impression we’ve been ignoring our breeding of Rotokawa offspring. At Thistle Hill, under the watchful eye of Ken McDowall, we’ve been interweaving our three favorite lines: 688, 974 and 667. Augustine is still shy of 2-years….imagine what he’ll be like “fully growed”!
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Recent arrivals…
….at Thistle Hill. In the background, an English Traditional Devon™ heifer just brought up from the recip farm in Georgia. She’s a Cashtiller/Jaunty 8-month old beauty. In the foreground, a ™bull calf born here a few weeks ago to TDA 4. And the sire was Ashott-Barton Falcon. Here’s where it gets complicated, so pay attention: The heifer is a full sister to the little bull’s mother. Do they know they’re related? Talk about a family reunion! Then there’s this late arrival…just a few hours old. (Hang on now.) His sire is Churchill, who is a brother to the heifer above and uncle to the little bull above. Got it? The…
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Made in the USA….
….Traditional Devon America™ reached another milestone with the birth of this little bull calf. TDA is a partnership of three American breeders focused on importing traditional English Red Devon genetics to the United States. The dam of this calf….one of the first English embryos conceived at a clinic in Oxford and the daughter of two British Devon champions….was Tilbrook Castiller. Cashtiller was particularly note-worthy for the great bulls she produced. The AI sire of this little guy was Ashott Barton Millennium Falcon, but we’ll do him a favor and call him Falcon, for short. He’s just over 12 hours old in these photos but we’re hopeful. We calve our heifers…
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Thistle Hill goes “global”…Part Two….
….by coincidence, the same day of our South Africans visit, (see Global Part One below) we received an email from all the way around the globe in New Zealand. We’re always surprised at the readership this blog receives in far-away places….and gratified when we hear from afar. Frankly, it makes me a bit ashamed that I don’t devote more time to our Blog to make it more deserving of your attention. But here’s the note we received from Helena Barrio: Although originally from Devon, I now live with my family in New Zealand. We farm a small stud in the north island. I love Devon cattle, and I too am…
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A breeding viewpoint….
….I assume that cattle breeders who read this blog, are also regulars at the Kit Pharo website. If not, I suggest you should be. This week Kit links to an article in Beef Magazine that should resonate with all pure bred breeders…though it was aimed at the commercial cattleman. http://beefmagazine.com/blog/do-you-want-progress-or-change-cattle-breeding
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What we did on our summer vacation….
….visited Devon farms, of course. And there’s none prettier than John and Patsy Forelle’s “Folly Farm” near Pine Planes, New York. You may remember it as the scene of the glamorous closing banquet of the then-new North American Devon Association. John and I served on the NADA board for several years before finally deciding we could do more for Devon by concentrating on our own herds, and Traditional Devon America, a joint project importing pure English Devon genetics to this country. John has now sold his herd but retains three heifers, sired by the TDA herd bull, Cutcombe Jaunty. And those heifers are now calving. This…