OGF incorporated American Milking Devon cattle into our breeds conservation program with the arrival of two strikingly beautiful heifers from Mount Vernon, Mary and Josey, in 2006. In the intervening years we have increased our herd to eight cows and have closed the herd.
The Milking Devon is extinct in its native England. The American Milking Devon is a direct descendant from the foundation stock first brought to colonial New England in 1623. It was favored for its tri-purposes: rich milk, lean flavorful meat, and draft. Found only in the U.S. and numbering less than 1,000 cows, the American Milking Devon is listed as a critically endangered rare breed by The Breeds Conservancy.
Handled with kindness, the American Milking Devon is a docile breed, medium in size and red in color, ranging from a deep mahogany to a light chestnut. They have medium size light colored horns. American Milking Devon thrive in a grass-based environment and in a wide range of climates. They have long been recognized for their intelligence, long productive lives, ease of calving, rich milk, and lean flavorful meat.
Our heifer calves are sold as breeding stock, frequently to small homestead, family-oriented farms. We select only exceptional bull calves to sell as herd sires. We sell the remainder of our male calves for either use as oxen or to be grown out as beef.
One of the great joys and challenges associated with raising animals, particularly rare heritage breeds, is developing and adhering to sound breeding strategies that contribute to the conservation of the breed while enhancing its value. A responsible breeding program is more than simply turning a male in with females to produce the next generation.
We are dedicated to a breeding program designed to:
Over the years we have had the benefit of being able to use numerous bulls. None impressed us more that Carolina Allen and, more importantly, his offspring are even more impressive. Our foundation herd consisted of four Allen daughters and three granddaughters from different dams. In 2014 we acquired a bull, Carolina Confederate, a son of Allen’s full sister Carolina Rose. With this genetic nucleus, began a line-breeding program incorporating semen from three distantly related bulls into our breeding program beginning in 2017.
Why line-breeding? Simply, line-breeding increases the probability of future offspring inheriting the desirable qualities of their parents, locking those desirable qualities into their DNA, and passing them on to future generations.
What is special about this line? They are long-bodied, well-muscled, excellent temperament with excellent A2/A2 milk production. These are the qualities that we offer you with our OGF Virginia Devons.
The value of our line-breeding program was independently validated at the 2018, 2019 and 2022 Mid-Atlantic AMD Regional Show where OGF was awarded the Premier Breeder Award. It is interesting to note that OGF Virginia Princess, 2019 Grand Champion Female, is a third-generation product of OGF’s line-breeding program.
Below are pictures of several of OGF’s Virginia Devons: