…and an emotional milestone at Thistle Hill. Just over two years ago, Wooz decided she wanted to take grandson Church to meet our English partners in Traditional Devon. And if, along the way, we discovered a likely cow she planned to make a gift to Church of embryos from that cow. Not surprisingly we found what we were looking for at Shiamala Comer’s Ashott-Barton farm in Somerset. We had to be patient while the young heifer grew up…and then endure disappointment when none of the first four implants “took”. This year we implanted the final four embryos and again two were a failure. But we also learned we had two…

…with “herd bull” tattooed” on their chest. That’s the case with this not-so-little guy who arrived recently. In this picture Equinox is just a few hours old and looking for horizons to conquer. He’s descended from Buttercup, a pure Traditional Devon from Brian Drake’s herd in England. Sadly Brian has now fully retired and dispersed his herd. The sire is TDA Churchill and he goes back to the great English champion Cashtiller, dam of four bull calves that topped the British annual sales. That’s a record that will probably stand forever. Cash, herself, won every Devon show she ever entered! With that much history packed into his 70 pounds, this…

Yes, you heard that right- REVERSAL of dementia. I’ve been listening to some amazing talks over the last few days at the Integrative Medicine Menatl Health Conference here in Dallas.  Yesterday morning, Dr. Dale Bredesen, author of  The End of Alzheimer’s, spoke in two plenary sessions about his pioneering work in reversing cognitive decline with the ReCODE protocol. His case presentations totally undermine the traditional medical model that once you have dementia there is no reversing it. It’s not easy though- not something a single molecule medicine is going to make a significant impact on. It takes a lot of commitment and work on the part of the patient. Dr.…

For the past three weeks, this young heifer has been going off by herself….a sure sign of an impending calf. But once Z103 was sure she had Church’s attention she would slip back into the herd. This morning the game finally ended. Born on daughter Carolyn’s birthday, that’s gotta be her name. But the family is still deciding. Grandpa and sire are both English bulls who certainly have transmitted their deep ruby red hair coat. Wooz nicknamed grandpa “Handsome Ransom”. Over the years, I expect our herd will fill out with his beautiful coloring. David

A prospective study in Europe looked at 471,495 individuals’ intake of junk food at baseline and then assessed the development of cancer over the next 15 years. Higher intake of junk food was associated with statistically significant increases of cancers of the colon-rectum, cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract and stomach, cancer of the lung in men, and postmenopausal breast and liver cancer in women. One potential limitation of the study, published September 18, 2018,  is that junk food intake was assessed only once, at baseline, and may be a confounder for some other risk factor that is associated with the above cancers. However, REAL food is likely always best:…

…that’s what grandson Church called it. He arrived at Walker Century Farms to pick up six pregnant cows and discovered he’d only carry five back to Thistle Hill. The trip to South Carolina was part of a major realignment of Traditional Devon females. But we’ll save that exciting news until later. The heifer…should we call her Hurricane?…is out of TD 6 and TD Victory. Mother and daughter will catch up with the rest of their herd mates in about a month. David

Since 1990, the population of the United States has undergone a sea change in our weight and our health. In 1992 , according to the CDC, approximately 10-15% of our population was obese. By 2015, approximately 35% of the population was obese. Genetic mutations in a single generation cannot account for this big (no pun intended) change. In the last 100 years we’ve had some huge changes in our environment that I believe are encouraging this push towards obesity: increasing sugar in our diet, antibiotics changing our microbiome, GMO foods, habitual snacking and feasting on high calorie, nutrient poor foods, and what I call “fake foods” – these are foods…

…when they are determined to add quality Devon to their herd! Roger and Elaine Witzig picked up a full load of Thistle Hill Devon in Virginia and transported them back to Gridley, Illinois…in all they were on the road 32 hours! Son Shannon took the photo of the arrival at 1:40 in the morning! The Witzigs purchase included two cows, two bred heifers and a young bull. We appreciate their confidence in Thistle Hill and invite you to drop by and share in the enthusiasm. David

…fools rush in, as they say, but we’re going to have to dissent from this announcement from the Temple Institute in Israel. The Institute has hailed the birth of a pure red calf as a sign its time to build the Third Temple. Some Evangelicals consider it a sign of the end times. What we are presented with here is a calf conceived in a Red Angus mother and the resultant embryo imported to Israel. There is no identification of the bull involved. Nor is there any identification of a pedigree much less one tracing back 2000 years. The rabbis seem to have their genetics a bit weak. An earlier…

…that excites us at Thistle Hill. We have always been big fans of Rotokawa’s Ken McDowall and hosted him many times. Ken has been consulted often about our breeding decisions. One day on one his visits he looked at a new bull calf and said, “David you’ve hit the jackpot.” The name stuck…and now here is Jackpot’s son, THF Guardian. Guardian not only displays Jackpot in his pedigree but Thistle Hill’s “2” Rotokawa line, producers of more top animals than any other. Almost needless to say it all starts with Rotokawa 243, who Ken considers his top achievement. As always you’re invited to come see for yourself. David