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Well you may have found her….
….hiding in the weeds on the wrong side of the fence (and tagged her)….but she’s still mine and you can’t have her. Q18 kept looking the other way trying to mis-direct us, but we finally found her new heifer and got it back on the right side of the fence. Then mom came right over and retrieved her baby. The heifer is by Thistle Hill Reality…our third calf of the new class.
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Two young “debs”….
….from England and now ready to breed. We have three Traditional Devon heifers here and two at the Walker’s Century Farm in South Carolina. We’ll try first to AI the girls to another English bull—Tilbrook Sunset—and we’ll follow with a young English bull here who was sired by TDA Falcon. The TDA partners spent a good deal of time recently discussing our breeding options…still limited because our herd is small and we want to continue our emphasis on pure Devon genetics from England.
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Sometimes it just doesn’t work (2)….
….the day wasn’t going too well for this Border Collie either. They never told him that not all sheep have read the same manual as the dogs. Thanks to our Cornwall lass Juliet Cleave. We “lifted” the picture from her Facebook page. (click to enlarge)
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Sometimes it just doesn’t work….
….we thought it would be nice to take a class picture….the 10 heifers that are just about ready to breed. Enlarge the picture by clicking to see Wooz trying to set up the shot. The trouble with our Devon is they’re just too friendly and not used to being pushed around. We also took a bucket of pellets and poured it out in a line….but only one of the heifers bothered to come over and sniff. (Trust us; they’re beautiful)
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Here we go again….
….the start of a new calving season with A123. He’s a “he”….by Thistle Hill Reality. A bull we sold as a youngster but brought back for a command performance when we saw how well he had matured. We like it when calves confidently accept our attention—and tagging—on their very first contact. Wooz wants to name him Elizabeth since it’s her birthday and that’s her real name. Do we dare?! I have in mind John Cash’s “Boy Named Sue”, of course. Reality has Rotokawa 667 on both sides so he comes by his sturdiness naturally. And it certainly helps to come out of our wonderful “3 family” as well….mom is THF…
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A ‘foundation cow”….
….is not a designation we use in the “Devon world”. But if we did, R2 would certainly merit the honor. Purchased almost as an afterthought from Lakota Ranch seven years ago, she has been a steady star performer. R2 comes from the same Lakota family that sired a top Devon bull, “Bud”, who became a star performer for Bill Roberts. That line is almost as prevalent in our herd as Rotokawa. R2‘s daughter, T2, by Rotokawa 93, has maintained the momentum. Visitors often ask to reserve a future calf by her or pay for a flush, which we politely decline. T2‘s latest is this heifer, X2a, pictured at birth. But the next…
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You’re going a long way, baby….
….two young bulls ready for shipment from Thistle Hill to the Midwest. In the foreground, a line-bred 688 son….behind him a 93 off-spring. They’re at the vets for their travel papers and last minute inoculations as required by Indiana and Ohio. It’s become almost routine to make our out-of-state shipments from the vets…making sure our animals have recent breeding soundness exams, dna work and all their shots in order. Dr. Derek Vandrey is checking their TB results. The 688 bull was destined for Joe Vosburgh in Alexandria, Indiana; the 93 son for Richard Jeffers in Athens, Ohio. We drove the bulls, and ourselves, through heavy rain and slick mountain roads…
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Eat your arsenic….
….it’s good for you! The Feds have finally discovered that maybe feeding arsenic to chickens and hogs could be hazardous to their health….and yours’! So they’ve banned most of the arsenic that is routinely fed to the industrial animals to speed their weight gain….and make the meat a little more colorful. Of course, they’ve known about the problem for at least four years. Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal for the link. http://noharm.org/us_canada/news_hcwh/2012/dec/hcwh2013-10-01.php What’s in your meat?
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Thistle Hill Alumni Club….
….two young heifers enjoying the sun at Tomina Farms in Tennessee. On the left is “Brandy Station” out of Thistle Hill 486 and on the right “Shenandoah” out of our Q1. Both heifers are by our herd bull “Double Trouble”. Owner Regina Tesnow has been naming Thistle Hill alumni for Virginia towns and landmarks. A nice touch that we appreciate.
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This will turn out well….
….it could just be that Monsanto has an extra couple bucks laying around and they want to improve the world. I’m sure stranger things have happened, but I can’t recall when. Anyway, the Frankenseed company has just purchased a weather data bank for about a billion dollars. Why? The Monsanto executive in charge of strategy says he just wants to help you. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3019387/why-monsanto-just-spent-1-billion-to-buy-a-climate-data-company Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal, who saw this on the Fast Company magazine website.