http://threegablesfarm.com threegablesfarm.com Wordpress weblog Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:08:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 The land of milk and honey and cattle as fat as elephants is tired from a century of exploitation. The times of growing things as big as one can in as short a time as possible must come to an end. Planting crops by the section of land, and fattening cattle in factory lots by the tens of thousands is not sustainable. We are creating climate changes, environmental disasters, and unimaginable suffering of animals. Factory farming induces crop - and animal diseases which weak havock for farmers, and kill people. Farming is a life WITH nature, and not an exploitation of it. If we destroy nature, we will destroy ourselves, because humans ARE nature. Maybe we are far removed from it in our minds, but humans are natural. Not living in harmony with our own nature is a perversion we will have to pay for eventually. While the Tiroler Grauvieh will never outperform the standard commercial dairy breeds, or rival the massive beef breeds in carcass yield, it symbolizes an awakening in farming. It is an ancient breed who’s rediscovery marks a revival of local, self reliant, sustainable, low impact, low input farming. It is a necessary regression in order to save ourselves, preserve a future for our children, preserve our nature as humans, and to make progress as humankind and as intelligent beings. If our intelligence increases as part of our evolution as humans, then the only intelligent way to exist as human beings is in harmony with our planet. [1] [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Our-cows2009-05-30_12.JPG http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=437 "Das Juwel der Berge", or the Jewel of the Mountains as the Tiroler Grauvieh is known as, is coming to Canada. After nearly four months of planning and preparation, the Government of Canada granted permission for the import of Tiroler Grauvieh semen from Austria. It will be mere weeks now before the genetics of this breed are available to us and those interested in Canada. 110 staws of two proven, small-framed Grauvieh bulls will be banked for careful use. Future imports of semen from different bulls are planned, if the results from cross-breedings are a success. Three Gables Farm will use its Swiss Braunvieh cows as a foundation to upgrade its herd with Tiroler Grauvieh genetics until after the fifth generation the offspring will be 98% Grauvieh, and could be considered pure-bred. Historically, little distinction between Braunvieh and Grauvieh was made in the Alps, except by size and region of their birth. Many individuals of either breed carry characteristics of the other. Grauvieh genetics in Canada will be suitable for: crossing to Jersey to improve hardiness of cows and quality of steers for meat. crossing to Brown Swiss to reduce frame size. introducing novel genetics to create hybrid vigor in these breeds without the need to cross to beef breeds and loosing dairy qualities of female offspring. Grauvieh genetis soon available in Canada: [caption id="attachment_431" align="alignleft" width="266" caption="Photo: Tiroler Grauviehzuchtverband"] [1][/caption] Devis          AT 225.651.876 Height: 127cm Weight: 611 kg/ 1346 lbs. (at 2 years old) 4,355 kg/ 9600 lbs. annual milk yield 4.13% fat 3.38% protein Excellent dairy qualities . . . [caption id="attachment_432" align="alignleft" width="266" caption="Photo: Tiroler Grauviehzuchtverband"] [2][/caption] Artiz          AT 204.042.845 Height: 131cm Weight: 578 kg/ 1274 lbs. (at 1.5 years old) 4,207 kg/ 9274 lbs. annual milk yield 4.25% fat 3.41% protein Excellent dairy qualities . . . [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Grauviehstier-Devis.jpg [2] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Grauviehstier-Artiz.jpg http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=427 [caption id="attachment_108" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Newborn Wilfert March 2009"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_109" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Wilfert one week old"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="Motherly bliss: Sophie with little Wilfert "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_111" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="A afternoon in June"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_112" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Good company"][/caption] http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=361 [caption id="attachment_104" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Family Farm Day, Ruckle Park, Salt Spring Island May 2008"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_105" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Arrival of Sophie and Bruno May 16th. 2008"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_106" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Handsome fellow: five months old Bruno - formerly called Solstice, because he was born Dec. 21st. "][/caption] http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=280 [1] 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 in harmony with nature is the embodiment of truth, integrity, and ... yes ... love. Love for life, self, others, and nature. Many of our livestock breeds seem to have retained a sort of genetic memory of the past symbiosis with, and mutual dependants on people, and we find that some breeds in particular thrive on the interaction with people. This is the case with the cattle breeds of the Alps. Most historic breeds of the region are a pleasure to own, are mild tempered, and very easy to interact with. This pleasant nature makes them a perfect choice as family cows, as it is a joy to live and work with them, and the cows seem to seek the contact with people themselves. So, for a lucky few who take the plunge, these cows are once more the pride, source of food, and livelihood of families. For our farm, we have chose the following four Alpine breeds. These breeds are of ancient descents from probably a common ancestor, but isolated in the various valleys of the Alps, have evolved into different types able to meet different needs. The root of our breeding program is the Braunvieh from Switzerland, which we intend to cross to Tiroler Grauvieh from Austria until our future offspring will be nearly pure Grauvieh.  The Braunvieh is a wonderful breed, but we desire a cow of smaller statue. Since the Grauvieh does not exist in Canada, our Braunvieh will serve as surrogates to found the Grauvieh breed in Canada through artificial insemination. Out Tarentaise bull from the French Alps will service any cows not in our "upgrade" program. [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Milking-Illustration.jpg [2] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cow-profile-Braunvieh.jpg [3] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cow-profile-Tarentaise.jpg [4] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cow-profile-Grauvieh.jpg [5] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Cow-profile-Raetische-Grauvieh.jpg http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=335 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."] [1][/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 in the west. Its highest mountain is Mont Blanc, at 4,808 meters (15,774 ft). This region cradles cultures reaching as far back as Roman times, and is overflowing with rich traditions. Included in its traditions are cheese and creamy chocolate, and the beautiful cows whose milk provides the basis for these mouthwatering foods. The cows of the Alps are exemplified by wearing big brass bells, and hardly a person having visited this region in summer can forget the constant melodies of distant cow bells echoing in the valleys and mountains. In bygone times these cows were the pride of every mountain farmer and an integral part of the family – providing food and livelihood. [caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Almabtrieb in Switzerland - bringing the cows home for winter."] [2][/caption]   [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Three-Gables-Farm-House-in-Snow2008-12-20.JPG [2] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Almabtrieb-small.jpg http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=318 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, while the young bull was glad to have some reassuring company. Thank you Gerald and Darlene for selling us this beautiful animal you had originally retained for yourself. Although it will be a while before we can see any offspring, their arrival is nonetheless very anticipated. [1] [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Love-at-first-sight2010-01-05.JPG http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=296 [caption id="attachment_57" align="aligncenter" width="397" caption="Colin and Natascha with the girls"][/caption] Love affair with the Alps and the cows. Growing up in the foothills of the Alps in the very south German state of Baden Wurttemberg, just above Switzerland and next to France, I had the very good fortune and privilege to spent may weekends, vacations, and school trips submerged in the mountains and culture of the alpine regions of South Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Tirol, both in summer and winter. This is an ancient, majestic, and magical region of the world, with a very warm culture intertwined with the beauty and wrath of nature. In this formidable land, the people and animals have come closely together – one depending on the other for survival. I have always loved the Alps, but life had to take me westward half around the globe and to a new continent in order to inspire a true longing for what I had left behind. Having settled so far away from home made me embrace my European heritage and love for the alpine region. I had been in Canada for ten years when I finally bought what would become Three Gables Farm. Just nine months after I moved in, I had a Brown Swiss heifer standing in my little pasture, although I had never owned cows before. So great was my longing. Looking at my Brown Swiss heifer, and watching her mature, made me recognize that this breed – although gentle and beautiful – had little resemblance to the stout cows scattered over the alpine mountain slopes. I enjoyed my Brown Swiss cow, but by the time she delivered her second calf, I had learned about the Original Swiss Braunvieh, and her third calf was by a Braunvieh bull. It must have been destiny, that her third calf should be a heifer. I sold the cow, and kept the part-bred Braunvieh heifer. Before the heifer grew into a cow, I added a Swiss Original Braunvieh cow with bull calf by her side to the family, and I watched my Braunvieh herd grow. Still, the Braunvieh cattle in my pasture were still not quiet what I felt I was looking for. Having been selected for beef production in the 1970s, the Swiss Original Braunvieh genetics available in Canada produced huge cattle … much too big for a small farm. Small genetics were no longer available; not even from Switzerland itself. We have had success using Artificial Insemination with our cows, but didn’t like the whole business much, nor did we realize much savings that way. My husband and I were determined to keep our own bull eventually, but we simply could not envision a 3,000 lb Braunvieh bull standing in our pasture … occasionally stepping over the fence to visit the neighbors. Therefore, with the desire to keep our own bull, pure-breeding was out the window. More soon …. http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=278 [caption id="attachment_97" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="We made cover in 2004 after the Fall Fair"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_98" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Robyn's 2006 purebred Brown Swiss bull calf "Golden Boy" "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Robyn's 2007 heifer calf "Noel", who we bottle raised."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_100" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Our bottle baby Noel in February "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_101" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Unexpected snow end of March 2008. Like a scene from the Alps."][/caption] http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=271 Until our Tiroler Grauvieh semen from Austria becomes available, we are exploring another Alpine breed: the Tarentaise [1].  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 hit it just right with the short but intense heats of a heifer, and the longer, subtle heats of an older cow. Without a bull we would have needed to resorted to having the vet come out twice, twelve hours apart, to artificially inseminate our cows during heat, in order to avoid a "misfire". The success rate of a resulting pregnancy would be greatly increased, but so are the costs! Enough so to reconsider keeping a bull. This Tarentaise yearling bull from the family Folkmann of Westcan Farm in Alberta is expected to mature at a weight of 2,000 lbs. That is 1,000 lbs. LESS then what we can expect from today's Braunvieh bulls, and much more manageable for a small farm. [2] [1] http://threegablesfarm.com/?page_id=144 [2] http://threegablesfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Feature-Image-in-time-for-Christmas.jpg http://threegablesfarm.com/?p=187