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Looking for volunteers….
….and here they are from the main herd. A big week at Thistle Hill as we implant embryos from the two heifers we purchased in England. There are four more waiting in another pasture….young cows who’ve had just one or two calves. Again, we’re congratulating ourselves for choosing Red Devon some years ago….they are calm and easy to handle in this sensitive project. You can see the current calves relaxing just outside the pen. The process takes about 10-15 minutes per cow, including moving them into the chute and headgate. Dr. Tom Massey of Rose Hill Veterinary Service did the implant work this time. We enjoy working with Tom because he…
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Eat. More. Fat.
….they’re having the same difficulty in England as here in the States….breaking down the “settled science” that fat makes you fat. In fact, the right fat makes you thin…and healthy. http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/672772/eat-more-fat-Britain-obesity-health-epidemic-cholesterol-NHS
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Heat checking….
….as we get ready to implant our latest embryos from England. We’re using our best cows for this project. The CIDRs were pulled just last weekend and this was the first time we could detect heat. Of the 16 cows we’re prepping, 10 came into heat today. Eight days from that point we’ll be implanting the embryos and then a tense time as we await the results. For our city friends: this is what we are looking for. The 8-day clock starts running now. The embryos are waiting in a canister a few miles away…eggs that were fertilized in a mating of cows and a bull we selected for their conformation and…
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It’s become a ritual for the past year….
….to end our work-day with a glass of wine and the latest episode of a lovely British t-v series “Lark Rise to Candleford”. The show is a lovely profile of an English hamlet and village in Oxfordshire at the close of the 19th century. Change is coming….”progress”….and it evokes mixed emotions from the residents, who see an idyllic life coming to an end. The other day one of the visitors to the rural area said “it takes courage to change” only to be corrected by a hamlet folk who said “sometimes it takes courage to stand still”. We were reminded of that by this story: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tiny-nebraska-town-1100-jobs-citing-life-38807185
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Thistle Hill East….revisited….
….the other day we featured our young cow “Bribery” at Bovine Genetics near Cambridge. Actually the village is called “Bishops Itchington”. (Much of the fun in England is in the town names.) Now here is ” Ashott Barton Tulip“, who has also completed flushing. Scroll down below the picture for more information. A second shipment of embryos from both animals is flying across the Atlantic as this is being written. (4.22.16) All the English genetics we import, for ourselves and for Traditional Devon™, land at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. From there they’re trucked to Adel, Iowa. Embryos and semen are stored at Hawkeye Services until we’re ready for them. Then, it’s…
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Thistle Hill East….
….a clinic near Oxford, England where one of our heifers has just completed flushing. Fifteen embryos will soon be on their way to Virginia. She’s descended from the famed Champson Bribery by way of Ashott Barton Farm near Exford. Her breeder was Shiamala Comer, one of our original Traditional Devon™ associates. Sadly, “Shi” has now liquidated her herd as have two of our other Traditional Devon friends. It does, however, validate our decision to acquire the best English Devon genetics before they disappear.
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A year end report….
….not from us, but from our English colleague and Cornwall correspondent, Juliet Cleave. Juliet and husband Chris are partners in our Traditional Devon™ project and in recent years their hard work has vaulted their Kew herd to the very top of Devon farms…anywhere. This year-end video doesn’t begin to do Kew Devons justice….but will give you an idea. Turn up the sound!
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Here comes the judge….
….our good friend from Cornwall, Ivan Rowe, was out on the show circuit again this week…judging the Launceston show. And our Cornwall lass Juliet Cleave was there, too, and snapped this picture. We would guess Ivan has judged more cattle and more breeds than just about anyone. And for the story of his own herd, read “Recharging our batteries – 5” just below. Both Ivan and Juliet are also cooperating breeders in Traditional Devon America™. Actually, three more of our partners are also certified judges in England: Gavin Hunter, Brian Drake and Margaret Elliott.
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Recharging our batteries – 5
….and if this won’t do it, you need a new one. We usually wind up our English tours at the tip of Cornwall…not only because of the cows and the scenery but because this is where our search for pure traditional English Devon first began five years ago. I used to say this was “Doc Martin country”…but now I guess I should say “Poldark country”. And the lovely thing is the people aren’t much changed from those times. My mate, Ivan Rowe of Goldings herd, is a case in point. But all the attention we’ve paid him has made Ivan something of a celebrity. One of the days we were there…
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Recharging our batteries – 4….
….took us next on our annual sabbatical deep into Cornwall….land of Doc Martin…and Poldark…and Juliet Cleave. Juliet’s infectious high spirits captivated us on our very first bus ride in the area. (she was the local tour director) So it was pre-ordained that we’d invite her and her husband, Chris, to join our Traditional Devon™ group. Speaking of Poldark, the Cleaves relationship is straight out of a BBC romance. For years they cast longing glances across the stone walls separating their two family farms. Finally, after too many years of delay, Juliet got up enough nerve to embolden Chris to propose. Their Kew Herd has blossomed, too, and is now one of the premier…