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TDA 14….
….another English traditional Devon made it through border security this week. This little bull calf is less than a day old in this picture….the son of Millennium Falcon and Goldings Norah. We now have been calving for three years….and just beginning breeding here. And we do have confirmed pregnancies!
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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…
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Meet TDA 10….
….over at Traditional Devon America we welcomed another excellent Tilbrook Cashtiller daughter over the weekend. Sire was Cutcombe Jaunty. As the number indicates, our English project now has 10 calves: four bulls and six females. It’s been a painfully slow process, dealing with the ramifications of both TB and the Schmallenberg virus which has closed down British exports. But then a little one (well not all that little) comes along and makes it all worth it. This heifer is less than 24 hours old!
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‘Tis the season….
an entry in a Christmas parade in England. (from the Farmers Weekly)
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Milestone (continued)….
….we mentioned in the previous post that there are two English heifers being bred in South Carolina (at Walkers Century Farms). This is one, TDA 03. Her dam, Tilbrook Cashtiller….who recently passed away….swept all the English competitions. Her equally outstanding sire, Cutcombe Jaunty, is also no longer with us. So we have, indeed, accomplished a small part of our goal in saving pure, traditional English genetics. It wasn’t so much death we have been concerned with as the increasing practice on both sides of the Atlantic to dilute the purity of the Devon breed, in the search for some elusive “super Devon”. We think they’re super enough and are content to…
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A Traditional Devon milestone….
….readers of this blog know that Thistle Hill, in cooperation with two other American breeders, has been selecting the best of pure English genetics (semen and embryos) and importing them. The project is now 3 years old and our first heifers have finally been delivered to the vet for breeding. The heifers are out of the English champion Tilbrook Cashtiller, who we bred to a great English bull, Cutcombe Jaunty. The embryos were brought here and implanted in recips. We decided to take the heifers to the vet because the early winter weather has been so unreliable we couldn’t be sure the AI process, once started, could be completed. In…
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In case you’re wondering….
….how the kids from St. Issey C of E Primary School did at the Wadebridge Primestock Show at the Royal Cornwall grounds…. THEY WON! We knew they would. Thanks to Cornwall Bureau Chief Juliet Cleave for the picture.
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Tilbrook Cashtiller, R.I.P…..
The great English champion Tilbrook Cashtiller has been put down. She was the prettiest cow I have ever seen. Cashtiller campaigned in British shows for several years and was never beaten. A great moment came at a Royal Cornwall show where she was named not only champion cow but Grand Champion. Her ribbons, silver trophies and plates could fill a room at owner Gavin Hunter’s home….and do. When the partners of Traditional Devon America saw Cashtiller first in 2010, they nervously broached the subject of flushing her for embryos….but Gavin quickly and generously agreed. “Cash” more than cooperated, providing us with 25 embryos. Right now we have 7 of her…
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On the job training….
….”Pokey” went for her herding class yesterday and did quite well. Monroe is a great trainer but somehow I think the lessons that stick come from Mom. Cornwall’s Juliet Cleave saw this at the “World of Woof”.
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A few of my favorite…..
….People! My mate, Ivan Rowe, braving a gale to judge a Devon show at Camelford, England recently. The steward for the show was our Cornwall lass, Juliet Cleave. Our English project is all the stronger for the fact that four of our seven partners have been judges in Devon circles for many years. If Ivan tells you a cow is “fit”, take it to the bank. It’s an integrity he took to people judging too, as a former Queen’s magistrate.