Family cows
Once the norm, but today keeping a family cow in our western nations is rare, and considered an eccentricity of a few longing for a more wholesome and home-bound life. Keeping a family cow is certainly not for everyone. It definately doesn't make for a "simple life" in that it makes life simple, but it does raise awarenes about the basics of life, and the importance to care for the things we may take for granted. Keeping a family cow is the proverbial expression of mankind's roots in agriculture. A farming history runs in the blood of most people on earth. Being stewards of the land and growing food ...
Welcome
Welcome to Three Gables Farm on Salt Spring Island, on the north pacific coast of the beautiful province of British Columbia in Canada. Our little piece of land is the far away home for beautiful cows from the mountains of the Swiss Alps, Austria’s Tirol, and the alpine valley of Savoy . [caption id="attachment_322" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The farmhouse in 2008. The first white Christmas in decades."][/caption] The Alps - the great white mountain range systems of Europe is world famous for many things. Stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany, all the way to France ...
French-Swiss relations
Well ... it has probably happened many times before throughout the past centuries in their bordering native lands, that the now French cattle breed Tarentaise was crossbred with what is now the distinct Swiss cattle breed Braunvieh. However, for us it is a very new thing with a promising future. Our new Tarentaise yearling bull arrived from Gerald and Darlene Folkman of Westcan Farm in Alberta on January 3rd. 2010. He wasn't in time for Christmas, but in time to ring in the New Year, and a new chapter in our breeding program. It was love at first sight for our Braunvieh cow, ...
What wears red and is in time for Christmas?
Until our Tiroler Grauvieh semen from Austria becomes available, we are exploring another Alpine breed: the Tarentaise. The benefit of the Tarentaise cattle is that they are already established in Canada, like the Braunvieh, and we have access to live animals. Colin and I made contact with a reputable breeder in Alberta, Canada, from where we hope to purchase a young bull for our girls. A Braunvieh-Tarentaise cross should result in beautiful, dual-purpose heifers, and excellent steers. We have had mixed results with Artificial Insemination, and look forward to leaving the whole business of heat detection to a bull again. It can be frustrating to try and ...
Grauvieh in Canada?
On October 20th. of 2009 we inquired with the Tiroler Grauviehzuchtverband in Austria - the breed association of the Tyrol Grey cattle - about importing Grauviehsemen to Canada. We have a keen interest in cross-breeding our Braunvieh with what in the last century was still considered the same type of cattle but of a different region: the Grauvieh. While Braunvieh in North America have changed to being large-framed beef animals, Grauvieh are still a medium framed double utility (dual purpose) animal suitable for small farms, as Braunvieh once were. A small type of Grauvieh - called the "Raetische Grauvieh" and of the size of Irish ...
Latest News from the Farm
French-Swiss relations
Well … it has probably happened many times before throughout the past centuries in their bordering native lands, that the now French cattle breed Tarentaise was crossbred with what is now the distinct Swiss cattle breed Braunvieh. However, for us it is a very new thing with a promising future. Our new Tarentaise yearling bull arrived from Gerald... [Read more of this review]
What wears red and is in time for Christmas?
Until our Tiroler Grauvieh semen from Austria becomes available, we are exploring another Alpine breed: the Tarentaise. The benefit of the Tarentaise cattle is that they are already established in Canada, like the Braunvieh, and we have access to live animals. Colin and I made contact with a reputable breeder in Alberta, Canada, from where we... [Read more of this review]
Grauvieh in Canada?
On October 20th. of 2009 we inquired with the Tiroler Grauviehzuchtverband in Austria – the breed association of the Tyrol Grey cattle – about importing Grauviehsemen to Canada. We have a keen interest in cross-breeding our Braunvieh with what in the last century was still considered the same type of cattle but of a different region:... [Read more of this review]
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