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What we did on our summer vacation….
….visited Devon farms, of course. And there’s none prettier than John and Patsy Forelle’s “Folly Farm” near Pine Planes, New York. You may remember it as the scene of the glamorous closing banquet of the then-new North American Devon Association. John and I served on the NADA board for several years before finally deciding we could do more for Devon by concentrating on our own herds, and Traditional Devon America, a joint project importing pure English Devon genetics to this country. John has now sold his herd but retains three heifers, sired by the TDA herd bull, Cutcombe Jaunty. And those heifers are now calving. This…
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A piece of cake….
….the folks at North American Breeders wondered if this young English Devon bull had the experience to mount a bigger steer in the middle of a barn…no restraints for either. They needn’t have worried. Traditional Devon’s™ Highwayman acted like he could do it all day….but it only took several times to gather enough semen. And a billion per whatever and almost no malformed semen! It’s what grass fed bulls can produce. Corn fed bulls can’t match that performance. Highwayman is headed for South Carolina and our partners, the Walkers, after breeding several test cows here at Thistle Hill. Their calves are due in a few more months. We want to…
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Testing….one…two…three…
….testing. We have bred three of our Traditional Devon™ America English bulls to American cows now….part of developing a track record on our imported genetics. Here are two by either TDA Churchill or TDA Wellington….we’re not sure which…the DNA people aren’t even sure. We hadn’t anticipated that problem dealing with flush mates. But we’re sure the lab will finally figure it out. One thing we notice in the bull calf at the left….he brings nice thickness all the way forward. American cows are notorious for weak shoulders. It will take a lot more calves to be sure but hopefully English genetics can help our American herds in several respects.
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OK….time for a Devon picture….
….a Devon….pure traditional Devon English heifer….but not in Devon….in Georgia. One of our Traditional American Devon calves from earlier this year. She’s four months old now….the daughter of Essington Park Buttercup and Ashott Barton Millennium Falcon. She’s an embryo calf, of course, being raised at Doyle Unruh’s farm along with five of her brothers and sisters. Mom is getting up in years but she still topped a sale in England recently. Essington Park sadly is no more because of the retirement of breeder and good friend Brian Drake.
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Passing the early test….
….as we mentioned before we have used our first Traditional Devon America bulls in a limited way both here and at Walker Century Farms in South Carolina. We want to gather data on performance not only with other English cows but various American lines. This was the result in the early morning yesterday…a first calf heifer and her brand new bull calf. Again, this guy was born right at the change-over between the two bulls, Churchill and Wellington. We won’t know for sure who the sire is until we check the DNA. So far, we can say tentatively that the bulls seem to be excellent heifer sires. The deliveries have been…
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A Traditional Devon update….
….just back from a trip to South Carolina and Georgia, looking at the latest British imports. This heifer is two weeks old, a product of Essington’s Buttercup and our herd bull, Millennium Falcon. Essington has been closed down now so we’re fortunate to have saved genetics from that grand old herd developed by Brian Drake. She and five sisters and brothers will be raised at Doyle Unruh’s farm in Georgia and will play an important role in our project to save British Devon genetics here in America. For this one, you’ll have to click on the picture. Some of our older British animals were gracing the pastures of our partners Bill…
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They keep comin’….
….we’re off to South Carolina and Georgia to see our latest Traditional Devon calves…embryo imports from England that we paired over there. Meanwhile, our British colleagues keep coming up with exciting possibilities. This is a Bribery cow….one of our favorite lines. And the sire is from another favorite line….the Bywood herd. Unfortunately Bywood has recently closed down after many years of producing some great animals. This little calf is at Ashott Barton Farm owned by our colleague Shiamala Comer. It was Shiamala who bred the Millennium Falcon bull, the cornerstone of our pure English Devon project. Study this cow and you’ll see why we had to launch what has been a…
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Stealing in….
…under cover of darkness. Traditional Devon America’s final calf in this class…TDA 15. She’s a Tillbrook Cashtiller heifer by Cutcombe Jaunty. We did very well we think. All nice, thick calves with deep Ruby Red coats. Three heifers; three bulls.
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Ready to take on the world….
This little English bull calf only looks like he’s getting ready to charge. He’s really just getting up for one of the first times in his first day in America….and trying to figure out if he can risk moving those front legs. TDA 11 is a Millennium Falcon son out of Goldings Norah….an embryo calf we bred in England and imported as part of our Traditional Devon America project. Right now he is in the capable hands of Doyle Unruh in Georgia but eventually he’ll join the Virginia or South Carolina TDA herds…..and probably make a few commutes up and down Interstate 81.
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Meanwhile, in South Carolina….
….while we’ve been calving the next group of English Traditional Devon in Georgia, just across the border, at Walker Century Farms in South Carolina, we’re monitoring the progress of earlier classes. In the foreground are two heifers just over two years of age…in the background, a bull calf from last year. Right now the Traditional Devon America herd numbers 14. Progress but still a long way to go.