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After the storm…
…a mother and son relax on the comparative warmth of an unrolled bale of hay. It provides some insulation against the frozen ground below. David
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Winter feeding…
…takes several forms at Thistle Hill. This is my personal favorite because we’re feeding the soil as well. The cows follow behind the tractor as it unrolls the bale of hay. They’ll eat up to 60%..the rest becomes organic matter enriching the soil…feeding the microbes and, in turn, the plants. Oh and tonight the new calves will sleep on it…staying warm off the cold ground. And yes New England, that’s what we call winter in Virginia! David
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Making history…
…is something of a habit at Thistle Hill. We’re always trying new ideas…ways to improve the quality of our operation and the cows we produce. In that pursuit we were particularly excited when Church was able to negotiate the purchase of a canister of scores of straws of semen from longtime Devon breeders Don and Heather Minto in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Among the straws were collections from almost all the top Rotokawa bulls plus some of the legendary sires in Devon history. Church planned the first major use from the cache to take place during his Christmas break from Cornell Veterinary school. Because our vet’s clinic is close to Thistle…
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A lucky stroke…
By grandson Church who bred this two-month old heifer. The semen tested poorly but we liked the son Church produced last year so we tried again. She’s the daughter of Defender, the most recent star of the famous Champson herd. Her brother will have the chance to breed for the first time this year. We like Defender very much and are pleased to have him round out our battery of pure traditional English Devon bulls. Up for discussion is whether to risk a live flush which is now scheduled for about a week. The dam of this heifer was our TDA 4…a “smallesh” cow even by English Devon standards. This…
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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…
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Yes I have favorites…
…and TDA 7 has been mine for the past 10 years! And this morning she further endeared herself by presenting us with a perfect 64-pound heifer. Somehow 7 has maintained her girlish figure (and udder) all these years. And yes 7 is a Cashtiller daughter…who may well be the best Devon cow in history. Her bull calves topped the British sales three years running…just as she earlier had won three Grand Championships in national shows. And her breeder, Gavin Hunter, is once again serving as the president of the British Society. And to share the credit, the sire of this heifer is Essington…named for the Brian Drake farm where this…
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Grass is always greener—II
Just a quick add…pictures of the turnips we’re getting (with our hound) and the radishes. Add in the roots we left behind and you get an idea of the wonderful impact in the soil! David
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Home again…
…are three yearling bulls who were at summer camp…actually the pasture owned by neighbors, the Rowland’s. Truthfully I’m not sure which is which….but these are sons of some great English herd genetics such as Champson, Essington Park and Ashott Barton. We take our young cows away for the summer to ease the pressure on our grass. That also means more here in our stockpile and easier to supplement with hay. David
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The grass is always greener…
…when you add cover crops! And for the first time that’s what we’ve done. Son-in-law Curt Humphreys and Coop manager Glenn Covington reviewed the results of the project this weekend…and pronounced themselves satisfied. Grandson Church had started the plan with Glen but he’s now off at Cornell Veterinary School. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to pick out turnip, radish, cow peas and the clover. Tougher to see but they are there are Cereal Rye and perennial rye. I never thought we’d get to the point where I’d think we’ve maxed on clover. Glenn is a little worried about possible bloat. We have pastures that were…
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A winning combination…
…of the outstanding Rotokawa 982 and our awesome X2a! 4 is a healthy 65-pound bull calf…an ai son of 982. This sire was an unsung member of Ken McDowalls battery of great bulls. Church came up with some of his hard to find semen not long ago. We chose X2a whose pedigree goes way back among American Devon. And the 2-line has been very good to Thistle Hill…producing a string of outstanding bulls and heifers. David