Our new herd of Milking Devons :)
I had shared with you last week how we had gone to visit some Milking Shorthorns in Nevada. Well yesterday we went to visit a herd (13) of Milking Devons. We had agreed to purchase these last week through email & phone etc but last night was the visit for us to definitely say “Yes” or “No.” We were VERY impressed- really nice looking cattle in great condition. This picture is of Douglas, the young 2 year old virgin bull. Amos the 3 year old is HUGE! Very well muscled & in fact two of this year’s heifer calves look like bulls, they are so muscley! It was getting dark when we got there so I wasn’t able to take as many pics as I wanted but I am sure that once they arrive at the farm we will be sharing plenty of pics & antics with you. LOL!
SO why the Milking Devons? We were wanting a breed of cow that thrives on grass alone with no grain supplementation. These cows have not been milked but the potential is there. They are naturally a docile animal so with some handling we hope that we will be able to milk the 4 cows that are feeding calves right now. Here is one of the calves drinking from her mama.
As you know cows are not cheap but we wanted to invest in a breed that would keep its value. PLUS if all goes to plan we will be able to cut our grain bill in half, eventually getting rid of it altogether. Milking Devons are a Tri-Purpose cow – they are good milkers, make good beef & can also be used as Oxen for working with. They have very big horns.
We have purchased 4 cows with 4 heifer calves, 1 open cow, 2 bred yearling heifers & 2 bulls. LOL! Over the next week we are going to have to work on some fencing. They are used to Hi-Tensile electric so we just need to make sure everything is in place for their arrival. Richard will pick them up on his way back down from Canada with the new piglets.
VERY excited! This breed is hardy & also rare so we hope to help preserve it & at sometime in the future have some great milking/beef cows for sale to the “small” farmer who is looking for a great animal to help towards self-sufficiency. We should have 6 or 7 calves on the ground in the Spring of 2012.
Liz
