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By the light of a smart phone….
….we were working after dark last night and the last job was moving our herd bull, Jackpot, from his herd and back to the bull pasture. We also wanted to get tail hairs to confirm a calf’s parentage. The whole job was done smoothly, with only Duane Ard’s smart phone for a light. (and we only used that to confirm we’d gotten a good sample in the dark) There aren’t many bulls, not even Devon, that I would be comfortable pushing around in the dark. But they don’t come any better behaved than Jackpot! Duane also grabbed a quick picture with that smart phone of a Thistle Hill evening sky.
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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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Dig the new digs….
….it’s probably their idea of arriving in cow heaven….Wooz calls it “summer camp”. A group of Thistle Hill steers arrive at a nearby farm courtesy of its new owners, Bob and Ann Emory. And “nearby” is certainly accurate. The new 50-acre pasture is just around the corner. And replaces another that was a half hour away….and much smaller. Until now, we’ve had to pull our steers out every winter for lack of water….and set up portable fencing. Bob has prepared a first-class facility complete with a new loading pen. Cows haven’t been on the land for many years so while we’ve checked and re-checked, we’ll wait a year before really…