-
Two young bulls…
…pictured at just over a year old…that we held back to monitor development. H242 (nearer the camera) and H243 were chosen to grow out here at Thistle Hill…selected from a class of about a dozen bulls. H242 in the foreground doing well in the early stages. We’re particularly pleased with his heart girth. He and his herdmate, H243, were both sired by a pure English bull in our inventory, Essington. H243 is descended from the Champson Tulip line, one of the most renowned in England. Tulip has been a little elusive for us so we are keeping an eye on this young bull. David
-
Making history postscript…
…includes selecting the “cover bull”…that’s the bull that checks for open cows…the ones that didn’t take in Artificial Insemination or Embryo Transplant. Selected for the job this year is Prince…the son of the last cow Wooz selected on our final trip to England. Prince is from Ashott Barton’s Tulip line. His sire another favorite Cutcombe Jaunty. We generally wait at least a week before bringing the bull to the herd. Many breeders release the cow right out of the chute to the bull but Church feels traces of heat can remain. Whether AI or transplant, we think it’s best to allow the embryo to firmly settle. It also provides separation in…
-
The one that got away…
…almost. Some years ago we were very pleased with our Sunset bulls from Gavin Hunter ‘s Tilbrook Herd in England. So were others and one day we realized we had sold the last of the blood line. Thanks to AI tanks we have just solved the problem. Church found some Sunset semen in an old Folly Farm tank and Sunset is back on our pastures…in the form of this three-month old bull calf. Making this an all the more exciting mating…we AI-ed Sunset to our new young Tulip cow. She’s from the Ashott Barton herd in England. We’ve barely finished this year’s calving and it’s already time to start planning…
-
Heading out on assignment…
…a young pure traditional Devon bull out of Ashott Barton Tulip. F100 is 25 months old and just passed his breeding soundness test. His assignment is an easy one…servicing three young cows we sold bred to Paul and Lauren Rohwer in Ijamsville, Maryland plus a few others. Those Thistle Hill heifers have all calved and are now ready for rebreeding. With both an American herd and the english bloodlines we have to maintain a large inventory of herd bulls. Church has developed an important sideline offering them at stud. F100 will stay at the Rohwers for 70 days. It’s a cost effective way to build a herd! David
-
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…
-
Parade of (baby) bulls…
…features three of the yearling bulls we’re holding back to see how they develop. The first is the final pairing Wooz selected on her last trip to England. His dam comes from the famous Tulip line. The breeder resisted collecting her and after some to and fro, we bought her outright! Then we had to figure out the complexities of owning a single cow…both physically and legally. We are greatly indebted to Tilbrook’s Gavin Hunter for providing the umbrella and eventually the transport to the clinic where Tulip was flushed to Cutcombe Jaunty. Gavin also arranged a permanent home for Mom. Too bad we couldn’t have arranged a Thistle Hill…
-
English update….
The bull calf on the left is out of a Tulip dam, a line that goes back as far as there have been herd books in Britain…about 170 years. He’s definitely a “comer”; love his head and muzzle! The heifer on the right is out of Bribery. Church spotted her dam on his first trip to England. Ten years earlier I fell for her grandmother but it took young Church to sweet-talk breeder Shiamala Comer into releasing the genetics. We’re often asked how we judge purity. Check the muzzles on these two calves. Flesh toned…clear of any spots. It also helps to know your registrar. In years past, our in-house…
-
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…