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The three latest…
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We’ve calved 21…
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Falling behind…
…with calves coming faster than we can post them…or tag them! THF 15 (top photo) comes jammed with many of our best pure traditional English genetics…Ashott-Barton, Goldings, Cutcombe, Essington Park. He’s a 75-pound bull calf out of our English herd. THF 16 (middle photo) is a 65-pound heifer destined for our American herd. Her dam traces back to the Lenoir Creek and Lakota herds…sire is English. THF 17 (bottom photo) is a cross pairing we really like for our meat production…a combination of Devon and Senepol. The quality and yield just can’t be beat! David
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Making it hard on us…
…this veteran cow went to the farthest point of the farthest pasture to have her calf. Riparian areas are great—and we have them all over Thistle Hill—but it makes it tough to find new calves. The mothers are often no help…looking in a direction away from their baby, I’m sure to mislead us! This dam, X2a, has since moved all the way around the herd and some distance away in the other direction…the baby bull trotting right along. After a few days when she’s sure she has her baby well-disciplined, X2a will rejoin her herd. And Carolyn just brought up something I had forgotten…when it came time to have her…
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An overnight delivery…
…not sure how Church managed to find this one in the dark, but he did! And he’s special too. His working number is 12 and he’s out of Church’s personal cow…a gift from his grandmother on our last trip to England. The original dam was Ashott Barton Tulip, purchased by Wooz and then taken to Bovine Genetics where Stella Scholes bred and flushed her. The embryos were implanted here at Thistle Hill. And now those calves are having their calves…pure traditional English Devon here on American soil. Sorry for the color quality but the original is so dark nothing really shows. If it were a negative and not digital I’d…
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Multiple blessings…
…7, 8, 9! These three came in a bunch a week ago. But THF 7 was camera shy and we waited until we had pictures of all three. THF 7 and 8 are bull calves…7 out of a cow in our American herd; 8 is traditional English. So is 9…a smallish heifer. All three were sired by our Essington bull…a proud graduate of Brian Drake’s legendary herd. In addition to contributing his best cow to our partnership, Brian was always generous with his wisdom and hospitality. For those who have asked: we do raise our English and American animals together and will use an English bull with the American cows…but…
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Today’s blessing…
…a little heifer THF 11…weighing 70 pounds. She’s a three-quarter English calf and was an elusive little girl…still needs a tag. The ratio is still tipped heavily in favor of bulls though…8 to 3. David
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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…
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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
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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