Down on the farm...

It has been a while since we posted anything about the animals down on the farm. They are still multiplying and doing their thing. Since Edward and Bella we are on our 3rd pair of Hereford calves (all the others having gone on holiday to a cooler clime). Peter has our latest ones wrapped around his little finger - literally...

We are also on our second calving of Highland Cattle since we bought the herd. The bull is good at doing his thing and the calves are all very healthy. You can see how we are strip grazing them (below) to ensure we manage the pasture well over the wetter winter months. There is still plenty of hay should we run out of grass.

The Dorset Horns are doing very well. They now regularly lamb twice a year, which means that we may get as many as four lambs per ewe each year. Here they are frolicking about...

And the pigs are doing well well. We have 3 sows and 1 boar (who is regularly 'pimped' out to other farms). I managed to catch Caramel, one of our Ginger Saddlebacks, giving birth the other morning. Here are some pictures and some videos (videos not for the faint-hearted)...

Above: Caramel resting in the sun after her efforts.

Below: The rooster 'Madison' would not leave her throughout the whole event.

The Willowbrook Highland Cattle Fold...

We have finally settled on the type of cattle we are going to breed at Willowbrook. It was a close competition between Highland Cattle and Belted Galloways, but in the end the large horns and the extra long shaggy coats of the Highlands tipped them into pole position. This will bring to a close our stocking of the rare breeds farm, as we will then be at full capacity and will have only rare breeds on site, having sold on our Herefords.

Highland cattle or kyloe are a Scottish breed of beef cattle with long horns and long wavy coats. The can be coloured black, brindled (red and brown tiger striping), red, yellow or dun (a warm nut-brown). We are getting three pregnant dun coloured cows, and shall get a bull next year to run with them. If we get a yellow bull we should end up with a mixture of duns and yellows. The yellow colour is more of a warm caramel - see below...

The breed was developed in the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles. The breed was developed from two sets of stock,one originally black, and the other reddish. Breeding stock have been exported to the rest of the world, and once an 'extremely rare' breed, they are now only considered 'rare'.

Highlands are known as a hardy breed due to the rugged nature of their native Scottish Highlands, with high rainfall and strong winds.Highland cattle have been successfully established in many temperate countries and indeed in countries where winters are substantially colder than Scotland's such as central Europe and Canada. Their hair provides protection during the cold winters and their skill in browsing for food enables them to survive in steep mountain areas. They both graze and browse and eat plants which many other cattle avoid. The meat tends to be leaner than most beef because Highlands get most of their insulation from their thick shaggy hair rather than subcutaneous fat. The coat makes them a good breed for cold northern climates and they are able to thrive in outdoor conditions that would defeat most other breeds of domestic beef cattle. As such, Highland cattle are able to produce beef at a reasonable gross margin from inhospitable land that would otherwise normally be incapable of rendering a profit agriculturally.Whilst the UK domestic and worldwide popularity of Highland cattle has made trade in pedigree beasts occasionally the most lucrative - mainly on account of their handsome appearance - they are at their best agriculturally when used to produce beef in a cold climate from poor pasture and forage.

Whilst the beef produced by pure-bred Highland cattle is exceptionally tender and of high flavour, modern butchery and shopping trends tend to demand a carcass and a cut of meat of a different character. In order to address this market, Highland beef producers commonly run commercial Highland suckler cows with a 'terminal' sire such as a Shorthorn or Limousin bull. This allows the hardy Highland cow, grazed upon the rough hillsides of her natural environment, to produce across-bred beef calf featuring the tender beef of its mother on a more modern carcass of high commercial value at slaughter, thus rendering a gross margin from her grazing that would have been impossible from other breeds in that environment. There is also a healthy demand from fellow producers of outdoor-reared beef who farm on more forgiving terrain, for Highland cross-bred bulling heifers: most often Highland cows crossed with the Shorthorn bull, for use as suckler cows. These cross-bred beef suckler cows inherit the hardiness,thrift and mothering capabilities of their Highland dams and the improved carcass configuration or their sires. Such cross-bred sucklers, further crossed with a modern beef bull such as a Limousin or Charolaisto produce the finest quality beef are one of the mainstays of Scottish commercial beef production. It is this ability to pass on thrift and gross margin down the beef-breeding cascade that has secured this breed's place as a modern commercial beef breed.

The Highland cattle registry ("herd book") was established in 1885. Although groups of cattle are generally called herds, a group of Highlands is known as a fold. They were also known as kyloes.

There are many international societies for Highland cattle. The British Highland Cattle Society, whose patron is Her Majesty, The Queen, is a registered charity. There are at least two Highland Societies in New Zealand. We shall join the New Zealand Highland Cattle Society.

The hairy calves are adorable...

Below: A prize Highland at Dumfries House...

I designed the Willowbrook Highland Cattle Logo using our highland tartan as the backdrop...

Fairwell to Edward and Bella...

This week Edward and Bella are off to embrace a colder climate. It is hard to believe that they are just over 2 years old. Dispatched quickly whilst eating hand-picked organic apples from a barrel, we know that there are no ethical concerns about the origins of our dinners to come...

Edward (above) and Bella (below).

Hard to believe they were just scrawny little calves 2 years ago...

We had said that we hoped they would grow up to resmble beasts like this...

I don't think they are too far off...

Edward was always the dumb one, though rather noble looking, and Bella the intelligent one, inqusitive and always a handful...

Peter has been reading through one of his favourite cook books and licking his lips as he turns the pages...

... trying to decide which cuts he wants. Other than a jolly decent steak and a few roasts, I am looking forwards to oodles of prime mince, so that Peter can make the most of the Soggy Bottom Farm sausage-making course I sent him on last year for his birthday. Gourmet bangers here we come....

Now we've conquered home grown beef, I wonder what's for Christmas dinner this year...

For the faint hearted vegetarians out there, there is always another option...

With Willowbrook's Kitchen we could run weekend cookery classes, and even put out our own cookbook...

(Mock up spoof using an old Reader's Digest Cookbook Cover)

Hopefully they would be more successful than some of Delia's classes...

Cows and Cattle...

We collected some more Hereford calves last weekend. My uncle had been rearing them for us on his farm in Te Pahu.

Introducing Bertha, Daisy, Doris and Mavis...

Above and Below: Edward shows interest in the newcomers.

One day they would grow up to look like these beasts below, except that Edward and Bella will be going on a very very long holiday next April.

For more information visit the official English Hereford site: http://www.herefordcattle.org/index.php. I love Herefords Alas, many of the other traditional breeds of cows and cattle have gone by the by over the last century due to their lack of suitability for commercial farming...

I love the cow prints above, posted at Brabourne Farm.

Here are some individual prints of different varieties...