-
The latest arrival…
…a combination of an English bull with the best of our American herd. Dam THF U3 and sire from the wonderful old Essington herd in England. Wooz and I were just getting started in Devon and visiting Lakota Ranch when I saw the grandmother of this little guy being born! I asked for her on the spot and Jeremy Engh promised eventual delivery! She turned into the prettiest American cow I’d ever seen…and Jeremy took grief from his Dad when he later came upon her on a visit to Thistle Hill. We eventually bred grandma to Watson…a descendant of the Rotokawa line. And the progeny have been equally beautiful. Cows…
-
A tale of two cows…
…our first heifer calf finally…THF 3…posing with her two mamas. The birth mother is on the left…TDA04…a pure traditional English Devon. The other cow is a young cow whose calf was born stillborn earlier in the day. TDA15 wandered around lost until this baby came along. Whether she thinks it’s hers or just wants to help, we don’t know. Fortunately TDA04 is an old hand and isn’t chasing her away. I expect eventually both cows will wind up nursing her and this 65-pound heifer calf will thrive! A happy ending. David
-
Our latest mama…
…is one of our favorites heifers and she’s handling motherhood like an old pro. The baby is a 70-pound bull calf…a blend of our American “2” line with the English bull Highwayman. The “2’s” were always Wooz’ favorite and Highwayman’s grandsire was England’s famed Millennium. Mama is camped out a safe distance from the herd and once she is sure Junior will behave they’ll rejoin the others. E192 has handled pregnancy and delivery and early motherhood exactly as we hoped. (And once we take away the temporary electric fence we’ll knock down the wingstem!) David
-
Here they come…
…our first calf of the season is a pure traditional English Devon…THF 1. He’s an 80-pound baby bull. The mom is from our great Cashtiller line…the cow that won three straight national championships over there. The sire is a mystery though. The calf may be the result of an AI with Champson Defender or the cover bull who was put in a few days afterwards. This birth comes right at the dividing line between the two. The size of the calf makes us think Defender will turn out to be the dad. An 80-pound preemie doesn’t seem likely but we’ll just have to wait for the DNA results. David
-
Awaiting the final grade…
…in just a few weeks. For the first time our bull sire battery will be joined by Thistle Hill Essington…a pure traditional English Devon bull. Essington will have to wait though for the first group of calves to finish…that will be this year’s AI group and the first by our grandson Church. Essington will have to wait though for the first group of calves to finish…that will be this year’s AI group and the first by our grandson Church. That and the fact it should introduce a new English bloodline to our herd has us all a bit tense. Back to Essington: he’s out of the Essington Park herd which…
-
The Rotokawa renewal…
…takes a big jump with the purchase of about 100 straws of the top bulls ever produced by Ken McDowall. They’re all here…688, 667, 982 and all the others in a purchase Church just concluded with veteran breeder Don Minto in Rhode Island. Don was in the group that first imported Rotokawa heifers and his Watson farm was a showplace for the Devon breed. When he and Heather decided to downsize, we jumped at the chance to purchase his collection. It included not only the Rotokawa greats but probably the most famous English bull of all: Potheridge President and his son President’s Favorite. To have this much firepower at our…
-
Two little girls are we…
…on a foggy morning. Both are about 18 months out of American Devon dams…but their English sires have had an impact! The heifer on the left is out of my personal favorite…R2…an almost after-thought purchase and a cow that was a trouble free producer of great calves for 15 years. This will be her last calf. Her sire, now sold, was an English bull Wooz called Handsome Ransom. The other heifer, against the fence, has U2 in her background…as well as two English greats…Cutcombe Jaunty and Ashott Barton Millenium Falcon. As we’ve said before, we imported English genetics because pure traditional Devon are a disappearing breed in England and here. …
-
At the heart of our herd…
TDA7, daughter of the great Tilbrook Cashtiller who is still the finest cow of any breed we’ve ever seen! We flushed Cashtiller twice in England and nine years ago TDA7 was born here along with five sisters and two brothers. TDA7, like her mama, has aged gracefully…udders still as correct as a three-year-old. Our friend and veteran cattleman Bill Roberts spotted 7’s dam Cashtiller on a visit to Gavin Hunter’s Tillbrook farm near Cambridge, England, and his judgment was confirmed by pictures and then our first visit along with 50 other Devon breeders on the 2010 tour. It was then that we formed a friendship with Tillbrook’s Gavin Hunter and…
-
The Thistle Hill Alumni Club…
…and a recent graduate…Equinox. He’s a combination of our top English lines. Equinox is not quite two years old and at 900 pounds has a lot of growth yet to come. But he went right to work covering the herd at Spring Pastures farm in Maryland. The Equinox pedigree includes such top names as Falcon, Cashtiller, Buttercup…all the result of a ten year search we made through Devon country in their native England. That dark ruby red haircoat and the spotless muzzle are two guarantees of a pure traditional Devon! This is the second bull we sent to Spring Pastures Farm and owners Brooke Henley and Tom Garnett. Reddi was…
-
King David reigns…
…over the American part of our herd anyway. He is now in his third year and making stunning growth…300 pounds and 2.5 more inches scrotal growth…in recent months. King David is the result of crossing one of our pure English bulls with an American cow. The idea was to mate the best to the best…hoping in the process to reduce the size of our cows just a little. Obviously we’re pleased with the result. This fall will show us more about his impact on frame scores. Meanwhile he is one of several cows we’ve been leasing. Talk to Church about that: (214) 802-1283 David