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Thistle Hill Alumni…Tennessee Chapter….
….we’re always gratified to see how Regina and Tom Tesnow take our genetics to the next level. Their Tomina Farm in Waynesboro, Tennessee probably has more Thistle Hill cows…and their progeny…than we do. Well, not quite. And they’ve blended to some other great lines, particularly Bill Roberts’ 12 Stones Grassland Beef. Their first big catch was our THF Magic, followed by THF Casino, the brother of our herd bull, Jackpot. (You beginning sense there’s a theme, here?) And now, with the real test of a bull, Regina has sent us pictures of Casino‘s progeny. We’ve included two of his bull calves below. (We’re currently out of bulls so we suggest you…
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Second stop….
….on our summer vacation Devon tour: Don and Heather Minto’s Watson Farm on an island in the middle of Narragansett Bay. We met Don at the very first North American Devon organizational meeting….worked together on the board…and planned NADA’s second convention at his Rhode Island farm. No one has done more for Devon than he and Heather…and our friendship has survived the association wars! Watson Farms current herd bull is R46…a line bred Rotokawa 93 sire out of a 688 daughter. There are Watson Farm bulls in a number of herds and we credit one…R58…with putting us on the road to success. R46 sired 33 calves for the Mintos last…
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A piece of cake….
….the folks at North American Breeders wondered if this young English Devon bull had the experience to mount a bigger steer in the middle of a barn…no restraints for either. They needn’t have worried. Traditional Devon’s™ Highwayman acted like he could do it all day….but it only took several times to gather enough semen. And a billion per whatever and almost no malformed semen! It’s what grass fed bulls can produce. Corn fed bulls can’t match that performance. Highwayman is headed for South Carolina and our partners, the Walkers, after breeding several test cows here at Thistle Hill. Their calves are due in a few more months. We want to…
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Testing….one…two…three…
….testing. We have bred three of our Traditional Devon™ America English bulls to American cows now….part of developing a track record on our imported genetics. Here are two by either TDA Churchill or TDA Wellington….we’re not sure which…the DNA people aren’t even sure. We hadn’t anticipated that problem dealing with flush mates. But we’re sure the lab will finally figure it out. One thing we notice in the bull calf at the left….he brings nice thickness all the way forward. American cows are notorious for weak shoulders. It will take a lot more calves to be sure but hopefully English genetics can help our American herds in several respects.
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X3’s new digs….
….as we’ve said before, the most rewarding part of what we do at Thistle Hill is helping others get started with Devon. Here we deliver THF X3 (Red Lad) to Tom Garnett and Brooke Henley near Middletown, Maryland. X3 strode off the trailer and pronounced himself satisfied….with the pasture and his new herd. Brooke wrote later that she was going to call him “Ready” because he certainly was. Wooz thinks he was one of the best we’ve ever raised. I never argue.
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Passing the early test….
….as we mentioned before we have used our first Traditional Devon America bulls in a limited way both here and at Walker Century Farms in South Carolina. We want to gather data on performance not only with other English cows but various American lines. This was the result in the early morning yesterday…a first calf heifer and her brand new bull calf. Again, this guy was born right at the change-over between the two bulls, Churchill and Wellington. We won’t know for sure who the sire is until we check the DNA. So far, we can say tentatively that the bulls seem to be excellent heifer sires. The deliveries have been…
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Another milestone….
…another successful experiment. We decided to try our English traditional Devon bulls on a few of our heifers…here at Thistle Hill and in South Carolina. And yesterday afternoon, without any warning, came the result: a heifer calf by a fairly small heifer. Delivered without problem. The problem is we’re not sure which bull is the sire: Churchill or Wellington. Both were with her right at the conception date. We’ll let DNA sort that out. Meanwhile, Mom was busy holding court all afternoon….introducing the curiosity to the other heifers who are waiting their turn. We liked that the dark ruby red coloring of the English animals prevailed. This was a thoroughly photographed…
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Batteries recharged….
….and we’re just back from our annual sabbatical in England. We’re overwhelmed with the backlog, of course, but didn’t want to keep you waiting. First stop, Gavin Hunter’s Tilbrook Farm and here’s the latest in a long line of his winners. This guy is just seven months old and Gavin has already set him aside for future use including collection. We’re first in line! Have to sort through about 250 pictures but we’ll drop them in a few at a time over coming days. Meanwhile, back to work at Thistle Hill. Thanks to Duane Ard for keeping things running smoothly while we were gone!
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The Rotokawa 243 family….
….is beginning to make an impact on Devon herds in this country. After a slow start due to the feud inside the Rotokawa partnership, things have settled down and now we expect a whole new shipment of 243 semen will be heading to Henry Hauptmann’s Rotokawa America. Regina and Tom Tesnow are justifiably proud of their 243 son….a product of Thistle Hill farm they have nick-named Casino. Regina reports he’s been doing a wonderful job with her Tomina Farm herd in Tennessee and you’ll be able to see him at the RedDevon USA meeting later this year. Casino’s half brother Jackpot, another 243 son, is here at Thistle Hill and shares herd…
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The true cost of a bull….
….in recent weeks, we’ve noted the same concern expressed on both sides of the Atlantic. In England, Farmers’ Weekly is warning that pumping up bulls with grain for shows and sales is setting up the buyer for an expensive disappointment. Farmers’ Weekly says, as we’ve noted here before, the heavy use of grain results in not only poor quality semen….but shortened useful life. Meanwhile, Kit Pharo, in his weekly newsletter, calculated the actual cost to the American cattleman for his “bigger and better” fixation. First, here is the British view: http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/24/01/2014/142976/make-sure-breeding-bulls-are-fit-for-purpose.htm Pharo has made the same point before, and so have we, but Pharo takes it a step further…