Success in 3 breeds – Musqie Valley Farms - Cowsmo

Success in 3 breeds – Musqie Valley Farms

Musqie Valley Farms from Elderbank Nova Scotia, is ran by John and Gwen Dillman and their son Reg Dillman along with wife Melissa and two children Kaden and Tate.

Dillman_Musqie Valley Farms logo

The farm was purchased in 1977 by John and Gwen. In 2003 their 30 cow tie stall barn was lost in Hurricane Juan. A 70 cow tie stall barn was built with calving pens and 2 box stalls. The Dillmans milk 45-50 cows with approximately 56% Holsteins, 35% Jerseys and 9% Ayrshires in the herd. The herd classification is 13 EX, 33 VG (with 86.7 pt average) and 10 GP. They were #6 BCA herd in Nova Scotia for all herds in 2013 with a 256 BCA. Their herd averages are 212-242-216 BCA for Holsteins and 272-270-269 for Jerseys.

The Dillmans own 200 acres and rent 100. Their crops consist of 55 acres of corn, 50 acres of pasture, 50-70 acres of legumes and the remaining is in alfalfa and grass. They also run a custom combine operation and will do between 1000-1500 acres this year. They also supply 800-850 birds to the registered Pheasant reserve nearby. John is also a dealer for Quality seeds, Dekalb, Maizex, Elite and Semincan servicing approximately 70-75 customers in Nova Scotia and New Foundland.

Feeding protocol -Calves are housed in hutches and fed headstart when they are born and milk from the tank maxing out at 6 litres per day along with a calf starter. -weaning takes place at 10 weeks where they are put on dry hay along with a calf starter until 6 months of age -Heifers are fed round bale silage and a 20% dairy ration – Milk cows are fed a TMR, Mineral supplement and hand fed a top dressed protein – Dry Cows are fed round bale silage with a ration introduced to close up calvers -Cows and heifers are both on pasture during the summer months with access to free choice dry hay

Cows and families of significance

Cobequid Lance Canuck Spumante EX-94 4E 4* (Holstein)
Best record 06-09 14029kgs M 652 4.6%F 430 3.1%P
Reserve All-Atlantic Senior 3 Year Old 2008
HM All-Quebec 5 Year Old 2010
Reserve Grand Atlantic Summer 2008
HM Grand Atlantic Championship 2008 & 2010
now owned by Doug Morrison 2 EX, 4VG and 3 GP daughters
Dillman_Cobequid_Lance_Canuck_Spumante

Cobequid Goldwyn Spark EX-90 2E (daughter of Spumante)
04-02 12746 710 5.6%F 409 3.2%P
5 VG daughters (Sanchez & AltaJayz)
Other heifers on the ground by Braxton, Sid and Doorman
Dillman_Cobequid Goldwyn Spark

Idee Goldwyn Lucia VG-89 3yr (Holstein)
Dam: Idee Louis Luise Ex-94 2E 6* from Lydia’s
03-05 13451 551 4.1%F 425 3.2%P
1st Senior 3 Year Old & HM Grand Champion Atlantic Summer 2013
1st Senior 3 Year Old & Reserve Intermediate Champion Atlantic Championship 2013 Daughters at Dillmans- 1 VG daughter Dillman Sid Lucy with Sanchez and Sid daughters on the ground owned with RJ & Jennifer
idee_goldwyn_lucia

Dillman Musqie Calimero Chikita EX-92 (Ayrshire)
Calimero from EX-90 4E Willy, Brixam Helgo Brandy EX-91 4E, VG-88
Chikita’s dam had 4 VG and 1 EX Daughters
2nd Junior 2 Year Old Royal 2009
1st Junior 2 Year Old Ormstown 2010
Dillman_Musqie_Calimero_Chikita_[1]

Avonlea Jed Maxie EX-90 4E 3* (Jersey)
8-07 305 10683 663 6.21%F 371 3.47%P
Grand Champion All Atlantic Jersey Show 2009
Dams: VG-88 Renaissance Mischief, VG-86, VG-86, EX, EX, VG
Maxie is a sister to Mischiefs Magnolia EX-91 3E 6* – All-Canadian Milking yearling 2006
1 EX Musqie Sultan Myra EX-91 2E & 5 VG daughters
Myra already has 1 VG-86 Comerica daughter
Owned with Wynt Farms Musquie Iatola Martha VG-89 3yr (Maxie’s daughter) Supreme Halifax County Show 2014 now owned by Milksource Genetics, WI
3rd Sr 3year Old World Dairy Expo Jersey Show 2014

WDEJersey2014_1E6A5221Dillman_Musqie Iatola Martha

Pinehaven Senior Vicky VG-89
4-06 305 9442 534 5.66%F 355 3.76%P
Dams: EX-90 Sultan, EX-92 Saturn, EX-90, VG-88, EX-91, EX-94, SUP EX-90, 3 VG daughters by Iatola & Vincent
Owned with RJ & Jennifer Dillman
Dillman_Pine haven senior vicky

 Breeding Program -90% Genomic young sires are used for Holsteins, Jerseys and Ayrshire matings -All bulls must come from good cow families with good type using the balanced approach. Never double up on production bulls – Reg admits when it comes to genomics he always chooses from good cow families and not necessarily the highest bulls. He admits genomics needs to be used correctly in order to maximize in your own herd.

Sires currently using -Holstein – Doorman, Envious, Magnificent, Fever have daughters on the ground by Sid and Goldchip -Jersey- Grayson, Grandious, Gangster, Gameday, Colton & Milad – Ayrshire – Prime Dreamer

Important management practices put in place over the last 5-7 years -Heifer shed used as transition pen for heifers after weaning -tougher selection process on heifers keeping the best and selling some prior to calving.

My siblings:

Trevor married to Shari with 3 girls, Danielle, Madison and Alivia. He is part owner of Blueline New Holland which is the New Holland dealer for all of Nova Scotia

Nick married to Robyn with 2 boys, Tyler and Cotton and a daughter Kaitlyn.

He works for Atlas Copco and is an area manager for Newfoundland and labrador

RJ married to Jennifer with 2 boys, Connor and Lucas and a girl Lainey. He works at Pine Haven Jerseys I Oxford Nova Scotia

Josh will marry Mary Ellen Maynard next summer. He works for the PEI agriculture department as an engineer in the programs department

Briana, the only girl, works at Blueline New Holland in Truro Nova Scotia.

Reg Dillman and his son Caden
Reg Dillman and his son Caden

Dillman_IMG_0248Dillman_IMG_0274 Dillman_IMG_0282 Dillman_IMG_0289

 

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