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Now what do we do?
The buying was fast and furious at our Open House and, not wanting to disappoint a potential customer, I promised the next heifer calf from one of our favorite young cows. And now T2 has delivered. The promise was only half-joking but I think I made a commitment. Trouble is, I never actually sell an animal until Wooz says “OK”. I’m taking this indirect way of telling her and now I’m going out to check the herd for a couple of hours.
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Our alumni club….
….a young bull from Thistle Hill that is developing nicely at the Linda Hendrix Misty Ridge farm in South Carolina. He’s named for his grandfather, the Lenoir Creek sire Guardsman. Thistle Hill Guardsman W31 is not quite two-years old. Linda and her son, Dr. John Hendrix, have just bought five more females from us so Thistle Hill Guardsman has his work cut out for him.
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Jumping the gun….
…that’s what the smart folks did at Thistle Hill’s recent Open House. Advertised for Sunday, we had our first visitors on Friday. Here, Wooz talks about our breeding program with Dr. Bill Walker of South Carolina, Jim Varnados of Louisiana and Regina Tesnow of Tennessee. Before the weekend was over, Regina was to sell a bull she had purchased several years ago to Jim and Ronnie Bardwell and then buy a new Thistle Hill bull. Our heifers were a particular hit, the deep ruby red hides are a Thistle Hill trademark and Linda Hendrix and her son, Dr. John Hendrix, would quickly snap up five of our best. The females will stay…
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One that got away….
….that we should have made sure we collected semen from. He’s Magic, a Rotokawa 93 son and one of the best bulls we’ve produced here at Thistle Hill. We love posting pictures of our alumni. Magic is short, a Frame 1 bull but almost as wide as he is tall…off the charts in linear measurement. Magic originally was sold to Regina and Tom Tesnow of Tomina Farm in Tennessee and fortunately they have now collected his semen. Just the other day he moved on to Ronnie Bardwell’s farm in Louisiana and, at our open house, the Tesnow’s purchased another Thistle Hill bull, Casino. The line is already forming for Magic semen…
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Setting a newcomer straight….
…Right as our open house wrapped up the other day, one of our cows gave birth to a bull calf and that provided wonder (as always) but also a bit of amusement. Within minutes of the birth, another cow with her own calf at side came up to inspect the newcomer. Understandably, one big red cow looks pretty much like another to a newborn concentrating on standing up, and so junior tried to nurse the wrong one. It took quite a few strong, but gentle nudges to straighten him out. After a while our son Church realized that we were witnessing a game of “calf ping pong” and got a bit…
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And now welcome….
….our newest calf and his proud mother. This is one of six heifers that enter our production herd this year. She’s a Rotokawa 93 daughter. We schedule our heifers to calf at three years of age because we feel that’s better for both mom and her calf. Other breeders like to push calving earlier, believing they get more calves over the life of the cow by starting at two. Our experience is that by being patient we extend the productive life of the cow. But more than that we find they are calmer, better mothers when we wait. Incidentally, the sire in this case was our Rotokawa 974 herd bull,…
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Why even take a vacation?
That’s a question I ask myself a lot. Thistle Hill, Wooz’ family property going back to World War II, could easily be a mountain resort. This is the view at the main driveway entrance and we hope you’ll turn in the Sunday of the up-coming American Devon Cattle Association meeting. Keep to the left, come up to the house, grab a plate (we’ll even have some of our Tamworth pork sausage for as long as it lasts) and then wander out to the pens and check out our animals. Some young English Devon will be there…and if you cross the road you can see our brand new traditional pure English…
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Forget Democrats and Republicans….
….vote for the Dinner Party. Well, in California anyway, where there’s one of those propositions on the ballot which challenges genetically modified foods and the unholy alliance between Big Ag and Big Government. Michael Pollan recently wrote an article about it in the New York Times magazine. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magazine/why-californias-proposition-37-should-matter-to-anyone-who-cares-about-food.html?_r=1
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The first one….
…not only our first calf of the season, he’s the first Falcon calf born in this country. He’s only a few minutes old here, already on his feet and walking; freshly tagged but still wet. Ashott Barton Millennium Falcon was the bull we found on our first trip to Devon and eventually was to become the anchor of Traditional Devon America, a partnership of three breeders sharing a love of Devon cattle and determined to preserve the traditional pure English genetic pool. His real mama is Goldings Snowdrop 113 (British pedigree records go back a long way.) The mating occurred in a clinic near Cambridge, the embryo frozen and shipped to the…
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And here she is!
Our new English Shepherd…Pokey Two or Okie. Just don’t expect her to come when you call using her real name, Bonnie. For some reason she likes Pokey and Okie. This also seems to be her favorite place: the front steps of the library. From here she can watch the driveway for intruders and the cows in the main pasture. And, of course, watch for cats. Pokey One thought cats belonged in the basement and would put them there. Pokey Two thinks cats belong outside. Pokey/Okie barks when cars enter the driveway but she loves visitors and immediately decides where they belong as well. She’s very well-behaved with company (mostly because…