FAMILY AND / OR BUSINESS NAME
M.W. & A.E. Huxtable & Son.
HERD PREFIX
Sowden.
WE MILK…
About 100 cows through a herringbone parlour. Housed in straw yards in the winter, fed on home grown Total Mix Ration (TMR) with dairy nuts in the parlour.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD PEDIGREE JERSEYS?
64 years. The first Pedigree Jersey cow was bought in November 1956 by the father of Malcolm Huxtable.
LOCATION
Mid Devon.
SUPPLIES / PRODUCES
Davis & Parsons Ltd & Styles Farmhouse Ice Cream Ltd.
WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR CHOOSING TO MILK PEDIGREE JERSEY CATTLE?
Originally to improve the milk quality for our retail business in North Devon; mixing Jersey & Friesian milk. In 1975 the Friesians were dispersed & our family continued with pedigree Jerseys.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JERSEY BREED AND IN PARTICULAR YOUR HERD?
We put great emphasis on good female families, looking for good bodies with excellent udders & good feet & legs making for good mobility to enable toe cows to walk to grass. Our best female lines all originated on Jersey Island & we have used carefully selected Sires to blend with them & improve them.
(* EX90 & EX92 & EX96 are different levels of Jersey Type Classification. Find out more about Type Classification here).