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Meanwhile, back at the ranch….
….life ain’t so bad either. A group of our senior cows on a lazy Spring afternoon. These are all being exposed to our “Jackpot“. He comes down to us from Rotokawa 688 and 243. A British bull, Highwayman, is doing the honors with the other half of our American herd. The English-imports also were bred to one of our other home-grown Brit imports: Ransom and Victory. The English animals, of course, are owned by Traditional Devon.™
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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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Where to begin….
….well, to coin a phrase, “start at the beginning”. Posting has been non-existent for almost a month, but not because there’s been nothing to report. It’s breeding season and Wooz here discusses strategy with our vet, Dr. Monica O’Brien. AI comes first, and we’re using two sires across some of our best cows: Traditional Devon’s Falcon (our English bull) and Rotokawa 243, who has given us some wonderful calves in the past. After that, came sorting the herd into groups….getting the right bulls with the right females. In all, we’ll be using four bulls this time: Jackpot and U2 plus limited use of two Traditional Devon bulls, a son of…
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The test that counts….
….the latest from our new herd bull “Jackpot“. This little bull calf born in icy rain is out of another line here that has produced some top bulls, 31. Along with “Magic“, “Jackpot“, a son of Rotokawa 243, is the most impressive-looking bull we’ve produced here. But it is the progeny that counts and from the calves we’ve seen so far, “Jackpot” is going to deliver everything he promises. Mom left this little guy under a wagon in an adjoining field where we found him after birth. We tagged him and he trotted up the hill without a concern and turned into the next pasture to be reunited with his dam. From…
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A happy ending….
….and all is forgiven and forgotten. Moms are that way. The little bull calf slept late but obviously had eaten and had been mostly cleaned off during the night. He’s by THF Jackpot….and his young mother took to her new role immediately. There is always a danger that a difficult birth can be so traumatizing that the mother won’t have anything to do with the newborn. That’s why we kept them together in a small pen overnight but it was fairly certainly from the beginning that she was going to be fine with him. They’re now out in the heifer pasture together, where he has a playmate.
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Which one’s my mom???
….Enlarge the picture to see a pony volunteering. Not likely. I seem to look like the one in the center. But the one on the right? Yep! A Devon-Angus cross bull calf born this morning to the heifer on the right. Actually, she’s half Devon…hence the red color of the baby. Sire was Jackpot. The calf was born on an adjacent pasture still under development and we’d begun to put up a temporary pen to bring the heifer home for calving. Too late! Take down the pen.
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A frosty morn….
….and U3 greets the sun. Or is she looking in the “far distance” for her new calf? In fact, she stood right there for several hours….finally moved down the hill to a protected area where she delivered her new heifer. The killing frost is actually good news for the cows. It means the end of the endophyte fungus—source of all sorts of problems—and a major boost in the energy of fescue grass. From now through early next year, brix (sugar) levels in the grass are at their peak. Fast forward three hours, and here’s the new youngster and our very first by THF Jackpot. This his ultimate test, and so…
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Parade of the bulls….”Jackpot”
“Jackpot“…or W18…is approaching three and the Crown Prince of Thistle Hill. We’d anoint him number one but it seems more fitting that we should, at least, see the kind of calves he sires. The first ones are due in October. The sire is Rotokawa 243, who Ken McDowall describes as his “final and best bull”. And who are we to argue? The dam—Q18—has consistently produced our top bulls and heifers. She was selected as one of four cows to serve as recips for our English embryos and at Thistle Hill being chosen as a recip is our top honor, particularly for those expensive English embryos. She didn’t let us down and…
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Tracking Jackpot….
….and he continues on track. From the first, this young bull….now approaching three….has been an eye-catcher. It was Rotokawa’s Ken McDowall who dubbed him “Jackpot“, when he first saw him on our pastures. Jackpot is a “243” son and last winter was introduced to his first group of females. We’ll be seeing the results in a few more months, and that’s what counts. Here are Jackpot’s four remaining classmates…one of them a line-bred 688 son. Thistle Hill may not be the biggest Devon breeder in the country, but we think, pound for pound, we’ll stack up against the rest.