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243…the formal portrait…
….well, actually we liked the one we ran the other day, 243 fresh from work, splattered with mud and head covered with hay. But Ken McDowell cleaned him up so here’s New Zealand’s finest: Rotokawa 243. Ken’s not saying but that fact that he went to all this trouble and gussied him up and put a label on the picture tells us that the shortage of 243 semen here in the States may be about to be remedied.
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What more could you want….
….a nice warm bed in the center of the action with Mom nearby. Actually, it’s pretty common for calves to plop themselves down in the middle of a hay ring in the winter….particularly when there’s snow or ice on the ground. These two calves are a month old by Thistle Hill Reality. There’ve been times that they’ve gotten themselves in and then can’t figure how to get out. Once we get rid of the ice on the hills—though more is forecast for the weekend—we’ll return to unrolling the hay and then there’ll be a bed for everyone. Believe it or not, we still have grass available but it can’t be…
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Back in service….
It appears the Comments feature of the blog is operational again. Sorry for the frustration.
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Temporarily out of order….
….our blog “comments” section, that is. Sorry, we understand some of you have been trying to get in for some time. I was thinking maybe I had done something wrong. Wooz has been telling me I need a shave. We’ll announce when it’s functioning again and I hope you’ll resend your observations. They’re the best part of this effort.
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Ken’s best….
….a current picture of Rotokawa 243, the bull New Zealand’s Ken McDowell feels is the best he’s ever produced. This is the one bull that was too young to make the trip when the Rotokawa herd was shipped to the United States. 243 is the sire of our herd bull, “Jackpot“, and we’re very impressed with the first calves that he’s fathered for us. He did, by the way, achieve 100% of his assignment. Regina Tesnow, in Tennessee, purchased a 243 son from us a year ago, and she also reports being very pleased with her calves. It’s the most uniform crop she’s ever had.
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Everybody sing…..
….”working in a Winter Wonderland”! Lah-lah-lahhh! Actually this last mini-storm was the worst kind: a sheet of ice under a little snow. Footing and traction are treacherous and the netting is frozen to the bales of hay. I use the front loader to crack the ice somewhat and I even drop them from about eight feet…..but it’s still a job for Wooz to rip off the netting. We keep telling ourselves this keeps us young!
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The Christmas spirit….
….Joan Harris, known in Devon circles for her calendars featuring Devon cows, has taken her art to the next level. She’s decorating the cows at her Harrier Fields Farm in Schodak Landing, New York. In this case, it seems just a bit like the proverbial “guilding the lily”. Harrier Fields was among the farms to receive the first Rotokawa Devon to this country a dozen years ago.
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ADHD….an epidemic or a fiction?
The popular wisdom is that we’re facing an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) epidemic. Some experts trace it to diet…others to genetically modified foods…or to herbicides. And then there are those who say it’s not a disease at all….unless you count bureaucrats grabbing onto federal dollars if they can find ADHD in the classroom. How else to account for the wild swings from state to state, with the highest incidence of the “disease” where the bucks are going. We just don’t know but certainly we had “rowdy” kids when I went to school….standing in the corner or a trip to the principals office seemed to chill them out. Dr. Joseph…
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Devon aren’t the only beautiful creatures….
….on Thistle Hills’ pastures. Checking for new calves recently, we came upon this sight: Photo: Duane Ard
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Bulletin: Media gets one right….
….along the lines of “monkeys and typewriters” but the Associated Press stumbled onto the truth about ethanol the other day. The big thing is that, thanks to Google and Bing, there’s a good chance that this will become the new narrative. http://wtop.com/index.php?nid=1035&sid=3497726