-
The Thistle Hill Alumni club…
…posted by Brooke Henley on Facebook today. Brooke says she watched the calving from her window while enjoying her morning coffee. The sire is Thistle Hill Equinox…with seven bull calves and four heifers so far this year. Two to go. Our relationship with Brooke and husband Tom and their Spring Pastures farm in Maryland goes back many years. They’ve built their herd around Thistle Hill genetics. Equinox is the son of our THF Churchill and the grandson of perhaps the finest cow in modern Devon history, Tilbrook Cashtiller. Not only did she win best of show every time she entered but her bull calves topped the English sales three consecutive…
-
Summer camp…
…for our two-year old heifers. They’ll eventually be bred here at Slainte Farm and return home to calve. For now it’s a welcome break in their routine and fresh grass! And btw congratulations to our partners Mary and Mike on their recent marriage! David
-
A lucky stroke…
By grandson Church who bred this two-month old heifer. The semen tested poorly but we liked the son Church produced last year so we tried again. She’s the daughter of Defender, the most recent star of the famous Champson herd. Her brother will have the chance to breed for the first time this year. We like Defender very much and are pleased to have him round out our battery of pure traditional English Devon bulls. Up for discussion is whether to risk a live flush which is now scheduled for about a week. The dam of this heifer was our TDA 4…a “smallesh” cow even by English Devon standards. This…
-
Yes I have favorites…
…and TDA 7 has been mine for the past 10 years! And this morning she further endeared herself by presenting us with a perfect 64-pound heifer. Somehow 7 has maintained her girlish figure (and udder) all these years. And yes 7 is a Cashtiller daughter…who may well be the best Devon cow in history. Her bull calves topped the British sales three years running…just as she earlier had won three Grand Championships in national shows. And her breeder, Gavin Hunter, is once again serving as the president of the British Society. And to share the credit, the sire of this heifer is Essington…named for the Brian Drake farm where this…
-
The class of ‘21…
…welcomed to the Perrine’s nearby Slainte farm by the year around dog in charge, Molly. This group of 14 includes both heifers and steers. The Perrines and their neighbors, the Ferro’s, have been taking our young calves for a number of years. That larger calf to the right is a Devon-Senepol cross…a testimony to the magnifying effect of heterosis or out-crossing. The mama cows remain at Thistle Hill and they’ll be delivering new babies in about two months. Separating these calves enables us to bring bulls to the main herd for rebreeding. Incidentally these calves aren’t the entire class of ‘21. There are another 7 that have moved under the…
-
Christmas gift…
A Christmas gift for TDA 35… …his very own set of two-year old heifers! We start breeding our heifers about one month ahead of the main herd. That, and holding off until they’re 2+, makes it a little easier on young, still growing females. It also increases the percentage of successful rebreeding. TDA 35 is a full brother of our wonderful English bull Highwayman. His sire was Ashott Barton’s Millennium Falcon and his dam, Goldings Norah. David
-
The three latest…
-
Falling behind…
…with calves coming faster than we can post them…or tag them! THF 15 (top photo) comes jammed with many of our best pure traditional English genetics…Ashott-Barton, Goldings, Cutcombe, Essington Park. He’s a 75-pound bull calf out of our English herd. THF 16 (middle photo) is a 65-pound heifer destined for our American herd. Her dam traces back to the Lenoir Creek and Lakota herds…sire is English. THF 17 (bottom photo) is a cross pairing we really like for our meat production…a combination of Devon and Senepol. The quality and yield just can’t be beat! David
-
An overnight delivery…
…not sure how Church managed to find this one in the dark, but he did! And he’s special too. His working number is 12 and he’s out of Church’s personal cow…a gift from his grandmother on our last trip to England. The original dam was Ashott Barton Tulip, purchased by Wooz and then taken to Bovine Genetics where Stella Scholes bred and flushed her. The embryos were implanted here at Thistle Hill. And now those calves are having their calves…pure traditional English Devon here on American soil. Sorry for the color quality but the original is so dark nothing really shows. If it were a negative and not digital I’d…
-
Multiple blessings…
…7, 8, 9! These three came in a bunch a week ago. But THF 7 was camera shy and we waited until we had pictures of all three. THF 7 and 8 are bull calves…7 out of a cow in our American herd; 8 is traditional English. So is 9…a smallish heifer. All three were sired by our Essington bull…a proud graduate of Brian Drake’s legendary herd. In addition to contributing his best cow to our partnership, Brian was always generous with his wisdom and hospitality. For those who have asked: we do raise our English and American animals together and will use an English bull with the American cows…but…
