-
It’s maybe not the Riviera…
…our pigs don’t know the difference. Here they’re soaking up the rays on an unseasonable winter day at Thistle Hill. Actually pigs do have to worry about sunburn. That’s one of the reason they wallow in the mud! David
-
This just in…and I’m bursting with grandfatherly pride…
…Church had just been accepted into the veterinary school at Cornell University! For the past two years, he’s been running Thistle Hill Farm and its herd of purebred Devon. All the while he’s pursed a graduate degree in biology at George Mason University. Before that he was graduated from Denison University in Ohio. If that wasn’t enough, Church also wrangled a few pigs and worked for our local vet at Rose Hill veterinary service. And somehow he’s managed the time to help his uncle at Tolsons Appliance, a longtime family store. Church’s achievements more than justify his grandmother’s belief in him. She was always his biggest booster! And a key…
-
Neither rain, nor snow…
…not dark of night…can upset the timetable for embryo transplants once the clock is running. So under miserable cold and wet and muddy conditions, Veterinarian Tom Massey and grandson Church managed to successfully cut out and bring in eight cows that had been prepped. Eventually embryos went in six by bulls including Lakota’s P60 and Rotokawa 663 and 93. We’ll now turn in our English bull Essington from Brian Drake’s old herd…and our own Churchill…to finish the job. Sometimes I feel our slogan should be: What’s Old is New Again. David
-
The scorecard…
…for artificial insemination this year. And it’s a year where we seem to be focused on up-grading our regular herd. The first step is to get the cows in of course….and a new unrolled tasty bale of hay is a good appetizer. Over several days Church has ai-ed about 10 cows. The bulls he used included Tilbrook Sunset and Rotokawa 982. We’ve had excellent results with both perhaps 10 years ago but the progeny somehow got away from us. Our English friend Gavin Hunter was the breeder of Sunset…and he was also the source of embryos from Cashtiller, our favorite all-time cow. Rotokawa, of course, was developed by the legendary…