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Ma, our baby boy is all growed up!
His name is Augustine and he’s packed with Rotokawa 667 genetics. He’s also the son of one of our favorite cows. With all the attention we’ve been devoting to our English project, we didn’t want to give the impression we’ve been ignoring our breeding of Rotokawa offspring. At Thistle Hill, under the watchful eye of Ken McDowall, we’ve been interweaving our three favorite lines: 688, 974 and 667. Augustine is still shy of 2-years….imagine what he’ll be like “fully growed”!
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Where do they learn these things…
….the other day, while taking pictures of an English bull for the Red Devon USA newsletter, I turned the camera on this young “American” bull. He immediately snapped to and assumed “the position”. The minute I moved on, he returned to grazing. He’s eight months old. From the moment he was born, we felt we had another herd bull…and he’s always acted like the lord of the pasture. Stands just apart from the herd, calls for his mother when he wants milk and she come over immediately. He’s THF 126…”Augustine”…you may call him “Gus”! He’s out of R2, who has produced many of our very best animals. Sire is “THF…
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Every so often….
….our plan works out. For instance, this heifer calf. When we brought back THF Reality from John and Terry Guevremont farm on “temporary assignment” we were looking to couple his genetics (Rotokawa 667) to some of our best cows, particularly THF 6 (Hope). And it came to fruition this morning. “Hope”, who is a 688 daughter, has produced more calves (19) than any other cow at Thistle Hill and, in fact, this is her 10th heifer! Of course, many of the earlier calves were thanks to embryo transplants. In recent years, we’ve kept her to natural breeding.
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A new day….
….and a new life greets the sun at Thistle Hill. Probably the most fun of raising cattle is exactly this: going out in the crisp morning air to check the herd for new babies. With all the nonsense everywhere else, it is a life-affirming experience. So meet A126, son of R2 and THF Reality. He’s the latest in a long line of 2s here (see “A foundation cow…” below for the “2 saga”) and another sturdy and promising calf. His half-brother is one of our two herd bulls.
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Here we go again….
….the start of a new calving season with A123. He’s a “he”….by Thistle Hill Reality. A bull we sold as a youngster but brought back for a command performance when we saw how well he had matured. We like it when calves confidently accept our attention—and tagging—on their very first contact. Wooz wants to name him Elizabeth since it’s her birthday and that’s her real name. Do we dare?! I have in mind John Cash’s “Boy Named Sue”, of course. Reality has Rotokawa 667 on both sides so he comes by his sturdiness naturally. And it certainly helps to come out of our wonderful “3 family” as well….mom is THF…
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“Reality” settling in…
We promised a picture of Thistle Hill Reality without the dramatic sunset lighting….and here it is. Like most young bulls, he finds the heifers on the other side of the fence more attractive. So he did go wandering last night…into our neighbor’s herd of commercial Angus. But Thistle Hill bulls are always gentlemen. First, Reality didn’t tear down fence, or jump. He just found a gate that had been left open in a back corner and went through. This morning, our neighbor, Kathy Hartz, simply walked him back through a lot of pasture and to an adjacent corner. We opened the gate and he ambled back through. Despite a stranger…