30 | Childhood love for Red Devons endures Rockview Peterbilt and Colleen Hunter. Glen Kowhai 533 and a 15 week old calf at foot. Russell Fredric When it comes to her love of Red Devon cattle, it’s a case of what goes around comes around for Colleen Hunter. It is also a case of keeping the cattles’ genetics in the family, although that part of the equation was close to being lost forever. Colleen and her husband Ross own a 62 hectare block at Arapohue near Dargaville in Northland. The farm supports a total of about 80 head of Red Devons including 30 spring and 10 autumn calving cows. Colleen’s affinity for Red Devons goes back to her childhood when her mother was breeding them on the home farm. Her mother relocated to a steep hill country block at Maungakaramea, retaining the herd, and Colleen and Ross were able to subdivide off a paddock to build a house on. They had intended to eventually buy their own land, but as Colleen’s mother aged, they become committed to her care and spent 20 years on the property, in the process learning a lot about Red Devons and were both greatly endeared to them. RURAL PEOPLE » Colleen Hunter Lee Fulton, Colleen’s late mum and the reason for breeding Red Devons. Eight years ago, Colleen’s mother died suddenly after having sold all her replacement heifers during time in hospital. After managing her mother’s farm before it was sold, Colleen was seriously considering buying another breed, but in an epiphany realised she was absolutely passionate about Red Devons. About the same time, she and Ross bought the farm at Arapohue in 2016. Two months later, Colleen had a call from a friend of her mother’s who heard 12 of her Red Devon cows were for sale at Maungaturoto and, with a serendipitous loan from a friend, was able to purchase them. “That line of cows was almost the whole generation of heifers that she sold when she was in hospital. They were in calf and due to start calving in three weeks. That’s where Rockview Red Devons started from, this was brilliant. If I was going to start with anyone’s cows, it was mum’s that I wanted to begin with.” A further 12 cows was added to the herd from another breeder due to a reduction sale with more financial assistance from the person who originally helped them buy the foundation herd. Alongside their docility, Red Devons really · Ground Spreading · Bulk Cartage · Limestone Supply John Dreadon Contracting: proudly supporting Colleen Hunter Contact John 021 273 2571 jjdreadon@xtra.co.nz Driving Vacancies Available Spraying & Mulching Dargaville Honda Motorcycles & Marine Colleen Hunter are proud to support 99 Jevois Street Dargaville, NZ | Call 09 439 1089 or 021 439 153 TOKATOKA LIME Co Ltd Suppliers of good quality agricultural lime Contact David Dreadon 09 439 2154 028 2581 0102 shine in a tough season, whether cold and wet or through drought, Colleen says. “That’s when they perform at their absolute best.” “They don’t need rocket fuel. They will get in and forage around; we’ve got kikuyu pasture here and they do particularly well on that. It’s considered low quality grazing pasture but that doesn’t seem to make any difference to our Devons; they still wean 300 plus kilograms bull calves at seven months of age.” Red Devon are a beef breed and Colleen and Ross are primarily focused on the beef industry. Quality surplus heifers are sold as starter herds and there is more demand than the Rockview Red Devons herd can supply. The best bulls are kept entire and there is huge demand for good, growthy steers, which are sold at weaning. Selling these enables the extra space to get through the winter months with ease while still providing them with the new breeding bloodlines for the future. “We are on a bit of a mission here, it’s time for the Red Devon breed to shine.”
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