• Winter feeding…

    …takes several forms at Thistle Hill.  This is my personal favorite because we’re feeding the soil as well. The cows follow behind the tractor as it unrolls the bale of hay.  They’ll eat up to 60%..the rest becomes organic matter enriching the soil…feeding the microbes and, in turn, the plants. Oh and tonight the new calves will sleep on it…staying warm off the cold ground.  And yes New England, that’s what we call winter in Virginia! David

  • Making history…

    …is something of a habit at Thistle Hill.  We’re always trying new ideas…ways to improve the quality of our operation and the cows we produce. In that pursuit we were particularly excited when Church was able to negotiate the purchase of a canister of scores of straws of semen from longtime Devon breeders Don and Heather Minto in Jamestown, Rhode Island.  Among the straws were collections from almost all the top Rotokawa bulls plus some of the legendary sires in Devon history. Church planned the first major use from the cache to take place during his Christmas break from Cornell Veterinary school.  Because our vet’s clinic is close to Thistle…

  • A lucky stroke…

    By grandson Church who bred this two-month old heifer.  The semen tested poorly but we liked the son Church produced last year so we tried again. She’s the daughter of Defender, the most recent star of the famous Champson herd.  Her brother will have the chance to breed for the first time this year. We like Defender very much and are pleased to have him round out our battery of pure traditional English Devon bulls. Up for discussion is whether to risk a live flush which is now scheduled for about a week. The dam of this heifer was our TDA 4…a “smallesh” cow even by English Devon standards.  This…

  • The one that got away…

    …almost.  Some years ago we were very pleased with our Sunset bulls from Gavin Hunter ‘s Tilbrook Herd in England.  So were others and one day we realized we had sold the last of the blood line. Thanks to AI tanks we have just solved the problem.  Church found some Sunset semen in an old Folly Farm tank and Sunset is back on our pastures…in the form of this three-month old bull calf. Making this an all the more exciting mating…we AI-ed Sunset to our new young Tulip cow.  She’s from the Ashott Barton herd in England. We’ve barely finished this year’s calving and it’s already time to start planning…